unchangeable, unshakable, unmistakable (roots like trees)
by OperaEagle IcelynLacelett
Summary: "Family forever, always, no matter what.""As branches on a tree, we may grow in different directions, yet our roots remain one." His family was killed, ripped from him, and now Tsuna is alone in this strange new world. But new hope emerges when Fon and show up, and a Hunter Exam is a reunion! Devoted!Fluffy!Vongola. Ensemble cast. Was A Sky's Soothing Solace. Guess what? Updated!
1. 1 New x Life: Pre-Exam

A/N: Welcome, guys!

Warnings: angsty!Tsuna, mild gore, lots of blood but only in flashbacks (at least in this chapter), a sad tuna, a sad tuna's sad backstory, lavender unicorn syndrome (go look it up), lots and lots of timeskips, lengthy flashbacks, angsty reunions, possessive!Tsuna, deadly-cute!Tsuna, slightly sarcastic!Tsuna, lots of freedom taken with Flame theory, no beta, possibly slash later, updates subject to muse, lengthy author's note that you might want to read if you want to know what's going on, and possibly more.

Only serious warnings: angst, slight gore, maybe slash later.

I promise it isn't as bad as the warnings sound... (I hope...)

Let's get started~!

~OperaEagle IcelynLacelett

-.-.-.-

A Sky's Soothing Solace

(Or, Second Chance in a Marvelous New World)

Chapter 1

New x Life

-.-.-.-

A small, lean boy with caramel eyes and light brown hair stood in front of the airship to Zaban City, eyelids squeezed shut with nerves, three days before the Exam was set to start.

 _I hope it isn't too hard_ , he thought. _I don't know why Fon insisted we meet here. This exam is supposed to be super hard, right? And have a high mortality rate. Not that that's ever stopped us from getting into an unbelievable amount of trouble before. But... there will be supervision. That has to count for something. Maybe they can stop the chaos my Family will bring?_

 _...Or not. But Hunters are strong, right? And surely they wouldn't send a weak examiner to test candidates._

 _ **Not that that will mean much to Kyoya** ,_ a little traitor voice in his head stated. It sounded suspiciously like Reborn. **_Or any of your Guardians, for that matter._**

Still, these realizations brought him desperately needed comfort, rather than irritation. He hadn't seen anyone but Mukuro, Fon and very occasionally Chrome for… well, ever since he'd been reincarnated into this world, and his Flames were unresponsive when his Family's dead bodies flashed before his eyes and the loneliness and sorrow swallowed him up.

-.-.-.-

The first thought he'd had after waking up had been the picture of his Guardians and various Family members scattered around all dying, the picture he had died to.

They had gone down with him in a blaze of fire, caught in an ambush with almost all of Vongola's enemies against them. It was a very hard battle with odds very much against the Decimo, but he and his Guardians managed to take down almost all of them with him.

The situation had been like that for a while, at least three ambushes a week during this tragic, drawn-out war, but that was the biggest and they were all so tired and longing for peace.

 _And what wouldn't I give to go back and murder them again for daring to take away my precious ones' lives… they had so much potential, so much time left…_

He knew that since they had chosen to follow him when he finally became Decimo, their lives weren't going to be very long. Still, in their mid-twenties...

 _At least we all got another chance here. If Mukuro is to be believed._ But he didn't entertain that thought for more than a moment. He trusted Mukuro, and Mukuro wouldn't trick him like that. At least not with his family. It mattered more to him than anything else.

He had had hopes for his new family in this world, and it was good, for a time. (Besides the frequent nightmares about his Guardians dying around him and how the Family fell to shambles after he left.) Until he was five, his mother was one of the advisers for a high-up politician, and his father was a dedicated construction worker. She was a vivacious woman who laughed more than her fair share, and always had a smile for everyone. Papa was a quiet, laconic man who only smiled in his eyes. Usually, he was quite timid, but when he was with his family, he always enjoyed himself and made sure to let them know through his actions how much he loved his wife and son.

And then the illusion corroded. His father was struck by a fatal combination of bad luck: his cooworker took advantage of his kind, hard-working nature and set him up, sending him into an unstable building at night. A water pipe burst while he was still inside and in trying to stop the leak, Papa drowned.

After that, his mother started drinking and smoking, her health flagged, she stopped living in the present, her mind fogged, her smile held no awareness, she ate food without recognizing it. It fell to him to support her. A lot of the time that meant digging in the garbage and begging. Sometimes it meant stealing, as much as Tsuna hated it.

He supported her for two years, trying to coax her to stop, begging and pleading and hoping and praying and Willing. It didn't mean much, in the end. She still hit him when he annoyed her, too intoxicated to know who he was. She ignored all of his pleas, caught up in the golden past and refusing to face the pain of the present without her Amber.

Her son finally snapped two years and six months after his father died, Sky Flames sprouting out of his hands and forehead and he gave her a verbal lashing worthy of the Vongola Decimo. His veins flooded with indignation. What gave her the right to shut down? He needed her! (he needed her smile, how she used to to rock him and sing to him and ground him and calm him when he panicked from his nightmares) What was a mother if she didn't support her child?

She never did stop, just died two weeks later. It was a sore point for him. He felt like he had failed, like it was his fault. He should have tried harder. She was _family,_ and she killed herself, and it was because of him, and that was not supposed to happen here, and he was all alone again, but he had no one to blame but himself, and no one else now, and that was for the best because he ended up destroying anyone who was close to him...

But at the same time, the Decimo part of him whispered, _what was to be expected? She wouldn't have lived long anyway, not with the habits she picked up. And she was never really family from the moment she picked up whiskey and started smoking a pack a day. If she had really loved you, she would have moved on, never would have started new addictions, never would have quit her job. Would have realized you were just a_ kid _and needed to be provided for._

He knew that objectively, but the logic was disrespectful and stinging and he still mourned for the bright, vibrant woman she had once been. He felt horrible for thinking of her like that, for longing to replace her and comparing her to his past mother and Family. So he tried his hardest not to think about it, though that didn't prevent the nightmares from using it as fuel.

After that he'd gone to foster care, only to be unloved and recycled five times. Twice he was a slave, twice he was a punching bag, once he was almost completely ignored except by a sweet adoptive little sister. He didn't want to be recycled again.

He thought back to Hayato's lonely days in Italy, when no one had cared about him. He had survived. So had Mukuro, Chikusa, Ken, Lambo and Kyoya. (Kyoya's parents almost never came home, one an assassin and one a private investigator.)

So he started out on the streets at eight. He had to learn how to fight again, to defend his food and temporary lodgings, so he took up training, missing Reborn, his once-advisor, and his Family so much it was a deep, permanent ache. He still suffered from neverending nightmares that never improved. His loneliness didn't help.

He picked up more street-skills, like pickpocketing, lockpicking, parkour, and improved in escapism, perfect neutrality, acting, and other skills from his Decimo years. His Intuition awakened again and became one of his main weapons.

He was quiet and subdued, living on for who knew what reason, only that he must. This second chance must mean something, right?

His Flames flat out refused to be coaxed out, entering hibernation, protesting the lack of warmth they typically received from the Bonds, and weeping in despair. Being so lackluster about living didn't help his determination and Resolve, either.

He began to doubt his new life held any meaning, as the newest gang chased after him to either force him to join or kill him. He tried, but not having active Flames, not having the support of his Guardians that he could almost hear and touch, he lost what little was left of his Will. He got beaten the worst he'd ever received in this life, from his mother or his foster-care guardians. He didn't care any more, and the world faded to black…

Only to open again to a traditional Japanese room. He froze for a while, wondering what the heck he was doing here and not dead.

The door slid open eventually (HIEE!), to reveal… no way. Impossible.

 _Why does it always have to be me?_

The man in the door wore red and white in traditional Chinese garb (? I don't know anything about traditional Chinese/Japanese clothing) and his hair back in a very familiar braid.

He nearly choked. _"Fon?"_

The closed eyes opened. "Yes, Tsunayoshi-san?"

Tsuna groaned and flopped down on the unreasonably soft futon. "Of course. Of course. I'm not even going to ask why."

"That would probably be a good idea," Fon agreed serenely, eyes slipping shut again. "You are much too prone to overreactions."

Then the full implications of this hit him and he shot up again, shock numbing his pain. "Wait," he cried desperately, "does this mean others are here? Where are they? Have you looked?" The Flames that had become frosty and unresponsive and mourning stirred in hope, rushing up to the surface, reflecting in his eyes.

Fon's smile merely turned apologetic. "I know that your Flames must be very eager," he conceded, "but I'm afraid the only other person I've found from our world has been Viper. That was by pure accident."

Tsuna's Flames recoiled, and then spat. His eyes burned brighter. "There's hope," he stated in his Decimo voice. "I will find them. And you will help me." His eyes turned on Fon and dared him to disobey. Fon just raised his eyebrow and a hand. Tsuna nodded.

"Alright then. May I stay here? I'm kind of… homeless," admitted sheepishly, averting his gaze.

Fon half-smiled. "Yes," he agreed. "I would like to see my nephew and sister again."

-.-.-.-

As it turned out, living with Fon meant earning his keep. That was alright; it wasn't nearly as much as looking after his unresponsive mother or constantly watching his back in the streets. Or trying to get unruly Guardians in line.

It didn't help his debt that Fon, the insensitive prick, also made him take classes in his dojo. Never the ones held after dark, for more… morally questionable things, but ones for hand-to-hand, smooth flowing martial arts that suited his style. The roughness of learning by brawling without an instructor to correct his body's awkward movements was quickly polished over, thankfully. His style was still more like the Decimo's than an actual martial art, but if anything, Fon seemed amused. "Follow your Flame to the center of your conviction," he advised. "If it feels right, don't turn away from it."

Fon also seemed, however discreetly, to take secret pride in the fact that he had gotten to Tsuna before Reborn.

"You are a model pupil, Tsunayoshi," Fon informed him once. "Anyone would be ecstatic to have you learning their art with all due consideration and respect. I am very lucky that you came to me first." As Tsuna mumbled something under his breath about kidnappings, Fon's eyes gleamed with amusement.

"I seem to remember that you might have perished without my intervention," he mused, voice soft behind his cup of tea, "but perhaps that was just my imagination."

Anyway, to pay the cost of his stay, he cleaned the dojo and completed the shopping. Not for the (shady) equipment, but everything else.

One time Fon had sent him off for tea leaves, his eyes glittering with familiar hilarity at seeing Tsuna drag himself out of exhaustion after just having finished cleaning (smirk implanted over his sifu's slight smile, daring and full of sadist threat, unique sideburns enhancing the blood-chilling image, shadow of a fedora obscuring gleeful eyes [no no no i need you where are you tell me im no good and hopeless and shoot at me one more time come back to me and give advice and be annoyingly smug]). Tsuna walked down the main street, waving to shop owners and regular customers and the occasional student at Fon's dojo, when he saw it. Nestled between the tea shop he was about to enter and the thrift store usually beside it, was a very familiar antique store from his first life.

He stared for five minutes. "Figures," he mumbled, moving sluggishly toward the tea shop again, only for the antique store's door to open and a brightly smiling face to stick out of it.

"Won't you come inside, hm?" Wonomichi asked. "I haven't seen you in a while, ho ho ho."

The next thing he knew, he was inside and seated (and wanting nothing more than to bang his head on a wall).

While Wonomichi ho ho hoed around the shop, looking for snacks and tea, he also called Kawahira.

Tsuna just decided to sleep. He had almost succeeded when Kawahira returned.

"Wakey wakey!" Wonomichi sung right next to his ear, and he bolted upright. "Ho ho ho, Master will see you now."

Kawahira came into vision. Tsuna groaned loudly. The day had already been too long without this addition.

"So, Tsunayoshi," he started. "What brings you here?"

"I was reborn into this world," Tsuna mumbled. "S'not my choice."

Kawahira looked contemplative. Tsuna refused to glance up to see the physical evidence, but he knew. And after consorting with Reborn (ouch, should not have thought about that) for so long, he knew it was never a good thing.

Thereafter commenced a discussion about the alternate version of the Tri-ni-sette in this set of universes and how Tsuna had so opportunely presented himself right after the old possessor of the equivalent of the Vongola rings perished.

"I did not want to hear this today," Tsuna bemoaned his fate again. "I don't know why I haven't stopped being surprised yet."

"As long as there are Mists in the world," Kawahira said sagely, "That will never happen."

"Ho ho ho," contributed Wonomichi. Completely, unsurprisingly unhelpfully.

"So," Kawahira continued. "I'll count on you to get the other Rings to your Guardians as soon as you find them." His eyes twinkled. Tsuna's eyes twitched. Or his face did. Yes, he managed a full-face twitch. Courtesy of much practice with Reborn (why did he do that to himself _again_? It was really very emotionally painful. In addition to the reminder of his Guardians).

Images shot through his mind of their mutilated bodies and fierce, happy faces as they died protecting him. Dang it, there was a reason he avoided this train of thought.

"They shouldn't be a problem. These ones tend to reflect the soul of the holder, so you'll probably manage to get back your version of X-gloves, and your Guardians their own weapons that came from the Vongola rings."

He agreed, but not happily.

For months after that, nightmares worse than the usual plagued him.

If it was even possible, his search for his Guardians sped up, which may or may not have been influenced by the weeping and pining of his Flames.

-.-.-.-

As it happened, he found Mukuro first.

Or really, more accurately, Mukuro found him first.

He was going through his katas, stretching his restless Flame, when he heard a quiet "kufufu" right behind his ear. Tsuna startled and toppled to the floor, eyes glassy and wide, skin flushed and paper-white.

He spun back to the spot he had hallucinated Mukuro. He thought he'd worked past that a while ago.

...only to see the real Mist illusion standing there. He would have thought it someone messing with things they really shouldn't be, but his Flames would recognize those ones anywhere.

He took some time to absorb and bask in the fact that he had found one of his. His Flames were tugging and straining, ecstatic. He tried to touch Mukuro only to find out that it was in fact an illusion. He almost sobbed.

As it was, he cried silently, fingers brushing through his Mist's apparition. In return, the Mist smiled contentedly and hugged his Sky the best he could manage as an apparition.

(though his hair was half-burnt off, left side of his face stained in blood from three parallel gashes, mirrored on his chest [so so much blood why no dont leave me your bond burns bright one of the only ones left], right foot cut off, the left mutilated, and so so much blood staining Mukuro's mischievous, resolved face in a way that was never meant to come out, and the rest of his body unsalvageable [this is unfixable no cant cant be why Mukuro use your flames isnt there more dont leave me love you im so sorry for being so selfish], though all these things were true, he struggled to stay standing, lashing out with dominating Mist Flames, back to back with Chrome, until he fell and did he ever avenge her)

"It's good to see you, Tsunayoshi-kun," Mukuro stated.

After Tsuna calmed down they managed to talk for a while. About reincarnation theory and the weather and other inconsequential things that made Tsuna's Flame sing in happiness, just being around his Mist. Of course, Mukuro being Mukuro, he managed to get them on the topic of hot chocolate being like caffeine but not having the side effect of almost-drunkenness at some point, and Tsuna just burst out laughing and into tears simultaneously. It was so normal-all that was missing was the rest of his Guardians causing chaos in the background.

And just like that, Tsuna stopped smiling.

Mukuro's eyes darkened with understanding, heightened by the newly reformed bond. "Do you want me to find them for you, Tsunayoshi?"

He already knew the answer before Tsuna looked up at him with so much brokenness and tentative hope that he couldn't have taken the offer back in a thousand years.

"Okay," the pineapple nodded to his Sky, "but you're going to have to give them a place to meet once I find all of them."

"'S okay," Tsuna whispered, huddled in a ball, loss drowning him. "Just-just let me meet them again. Even if they hate me, I-I need to."

Mukuro nodded and disappeared silently.

He did come back to visit every month, though, sometimes bringing Chrome with him.

-.-.-.-

Very rarely, Tsuna would sleep all through the night without nightmares, but it did happen. Those days were the ones where either he trained extra hard, almost to unconsciousness, with his Flames and had a bit of Fon's most soothing tea before he went to bed, or the ones where Mukuro and Chrome huddled next to him. The latter didn't happen all that often because of the Flame exertion that required, even with Chrome helping. (He almost didn't regret letting them do that when he woke up with his Guardians next to him, just like they used to, and he could pretend for a moment that if he was late to breakfast Reborn would shoot and punish him, Hayato would leap to his defense, and general chaos would erupt.) But he never liked to see his Guardians hurt or in pain because of him.

Then there were the regular days, which weren't that great. He dreamed of all his loved ones dead, mutilated, bloody, corpses, in the slick red battlefield that led to the close of his life. His hands felt stained once again with all the lifeblood he's shed in defense of his Family, they were steady because they had to be but inside he was shaking, shocked and unresponsive. The iron tang of blood and loss filled his mouth. He smelled blood once again, (always blood), and his Guardians' scents tainted with it. He felt the overwhelming grief and self-loathing acutely [sorry so sorry none of you deserved that i shouldnt have been selfish and let you follow me so sorry], and when he finally gasped awake, his Flames unsettled and newly longing, he never got used to the strong emotions after nightmares of his being murdered and reliving them yet again.

He always climbed onto the roof of the dojo, rules or no rules, only caring to be as close to the stars and sky as possible. He blanketed the images of his dead Guardians with the blanket of stars, sometimes. Other times, he imagined the sky looking down on his Family, watching over them. Either way, though it failed to totally calm him, the ritual was soothing and helped nudge him back to reality.

Then he went back inside the house again, put up his futon, and started tea.

-.-.-.-

The bad days were... worse.

They were the nights that Tsuna couldn't manage to sleep more than one or two hours, if that much. One of the guaranteed nights like this was July 8th, the day of the massacre/battle/deathdate. His Guardians' birthdays, too, and the day he Inherited.

He tossed and turned and cried and sobbed, his flame moaning, crying, crackling, strangely subdued, morose, and touchy, shifting inside him. It left him no peace to rest with.

[sorry please come back so sorry I need your warmth and reassurance please find me im sorry]

Apparently, these nights were so bad they tugged at his formed guardian bonds, and more often than not these were the times his two Mists would appear to keep him company, holding silent vigil with him, on the roof and shivering as hallucinations swept him up out of reality.

He was more thankful than he could ever manage to communicate.

-.-.-.-

Three and three-quarters of a year to the date Tsuna greeted his fist Element in this life, Mukuro woke him up. Tsuna "HIEEEEE"d and started to scold Mukuro for the unnecessary interruption, until he whispered "I've found all of them," in his ear.

The Mist found his arms full of sobbing Sky and smiled, however slight it was.

-.-.-.-

The day after, completely out of the blue about five years after arriving, at tea, Fon told him, "Tsunayoshi, I would like you to take the Hunter Exam."

He'd heard about Hunters from Fon before, who was a two-star Martial Art and Talent Hunter.

"Why?" Tsuna asked.

"There is something that I cannot teach you without a license," Fon continued serenely, sipping on his herbal tea.

"But Mukuro finally found all of my Family," Tsuna stated quietly, setting down his cup.

"Yes, I know. He informed me also. I do think this is necessary, however. You can meet there, yes?" Fon suggested.

After seeing Fon's determined eyes (foreboding smile) and hearing his arguments, Tsuna had to agree with him. Fon would not have won if the exam had delayed Tsuna finally reconciling with his Family, though.

And that was that.

-.-.-.-

Fon didn't do a single thing to help Tsuna with finding out where the exam was, what to pack, or how to get there. He just hovered in the background with a calm placid smile that promised blood and pain if Tsuna didn't pull together his own resources and _pass_. His demon monkey skittered in his peripheral vision interminably.

Tsuna was very motivated.

Even as he picked his way across Arukan, the continent he had lived on all this life, and onto an airship headed to Zaban City, Sahelta (specifically for Hunter Exam applicants), he spied Fon and Lichi out of the corner of his eye several times. They weren't even taking more than the conventional methods for hiding presence. He was twitchy and jumpy for the whole journey, and the five times a Mist apparition of Mukuro showed up, Tsuna accidentally "disabled" all of them. The Flame signature he'd recognize anywhere, but a physical Guardian bond hadn't been established in this world yet, so his body didn't register it as non-threatening. Dang it, it was making his Intuition go haywire, and his senses were on high alert. His head was _not_ going to thank him for this later.

When they finally landed, the loudspeaker clicked on. "Excuse me," the person on the other end said. "There will be a final, one-on-one screening before you may disembark the airship."

His Intuition actually helped him for once and nudged him to go. **_It's important._**

 _Okay, okay. I'm goi… where is it?_ Tsuna's concern was founded. No one seemed to know, and they were all either racing around, trying to find the room, or just plain racing around pointlessly and causing more chaos.

 ** _Reborn couldn't have done this better,_** Intuition whispered. The pictures rose in his mind again, of a man whose body was shipped to Vongola Decimo three weeks before the last ambush as a warning that Tsuna hadn't listened to nearly well enough. The only discernible part of the corpse was his sideburns. Leon had hidden on his body and barely made it out. He'd clung to Tsuna, presumably until Tsuna died.

 _Thanks for that._

 ** _If you avoid it, you'll never get over the images. Besides, you'll be meeting them soon enough. Stop complaining. Hmm… take a right here. Straight. Left, right. No wait, back that way-I'm sorry, it's vague! I have to get closer to be sure. Through this wall._**

 _How am I supposed to get through the wall?!_

 ** _Your Flame?_**

 _Just because I have them doesn't mean it's a good idea to use them right now._

 ** _Fine, then find another way. You'll probably have to go to the other side of the ship, though. Hang on-this guy has some idea where he's going. Or at least a clearer picture than those guys._**

 _I'll follow him, and if it looks like the complete wrong direction, then you notify me and I'll look as best I can._

 ** _Don't look at me, it's your choice._**

Tsuna tailed a heavy-built guy with graying hair and dark blue yukata. He periodically checked the rooms he walked past, until Tsuna's head was spinning and he was beyond disoriented.

 _ **You have a sucky sense of direction when I don't help you,**_ Intuition deadpanned. **_You'd be lost in three minutes without me._**

 _Well, I do have you_ , Tsuna idly commented as the man stepped into an office. _Oh look, I think we've arrived._

 ** _Yes, you have, you lucky idiot. Good luck._** Intuition cut the connection.

 _Wait-never mind. Whatever._

Tsuna stopped talking to himself and stepped into the room. The man in the blue yukata was sitting across from a dark-eyed man who was getting ready to pour tea. It gave him a very foreboding feeling that Tsuna recognized as his Intuition when the mental connection was not open (usually around people, for whatever reason).

He jerked into the room and stood there for a bit as the occupants stared at him.

"Um, excuse me?" Tsuna stuttered. "Is this the interview room?"

The dark-eyed, dark brown haired man glanced up from where he was just about to pour into the other man's cup.

"Yes," he said. "Come, sit."

Tsuna's Intuition rang in warning, but only to be cautious, probably of the tea. Sitting down was a decidedly good idea and wouldn't raise any red flags. Running away now, though, would.

He settled into a pretty uncomfortable chair and was handed tea with a bow that he returned. Watching the other drink and not immediately keel over dead was only slightly reassuring. No instant death. Was it a laxative, truth serum, paralysis causer, slow poison? Tsuna wafted some of the rich scent and fought to keep from frowning.

When Fon was in a passive-aggressive mood, most of the time because of the trouble that Tsuna was a magnet for, he would sometimes put 'undesirable' liquids in his tea. (This was the main reason why Tsuna had learned to make his own, along with the fact that Fon wouldn't have an apprentice who couldn't, and that when he was away it was convenient.) Almost, but not quite, hidden in the scent of this tea, was an extremely slow poison that Fon only used when Tsuna did something that required extensive repairs to the dojo/house. Tsuna had never died from it, but it was a close thing a couple of times. By now, given how many times he had accidentally ingested it (remember, trouble magnet), he wouldn't be on the brink of death, but there was no way he was getting to the exam site, much less passing it, if he ingested that tea.

Klutzy it is then.

His hand tilted just enough-he scooted just close enough to the blue-yukata man-he wasn't paying just enough attention-that when Tsuna's cup flipped and splashed him with scalding tea, it looked perfectly natural. And if the teapot accidentally shattered from impact when his cup hit it with a little too much force, conveniently subtracting the rest of the liquid from the equation, well, that was fortunate, wasn't it? His Intuition cackled through the bond.

By Giotto, if it didn't hurt, though. Those burns would take some time to heal. His Intuition was faintly anticipating something in the back of his head, but he had more pressing matters to attend to.

He yelped and glanced around, looking for a cloth. The dark-eyed man handed him one and said, "I'm sorry, the fault was mine. You have hurt yourself. I should have caught it."

His Intuition gave a general impression of _**warning-knowledge**_ as the man took out an additional handkerchief and began patting at his wet clothing, subtly reassessing the bits of information he had gathered already.

Tsuna blushed, and then he heard a voice come from the doorway that made his head whip around in surprise-

"Is this the interview room? How weird, haha."

(bloodstained sword shaking {only from muscle spasms, he would never be so unsure when it came to protecting Tsuna}, one eye shut, deep cut over that eyebrow bleeding so heavily into the eye it couldn't see, but the open one burning with Will [please dont let go make your determination get you out of here im sorry please stay alive] and hard with hitman instincts and the will to kill, left arm cut off mid-upper-arm, torn muscle and bone showing on his side, and so much blood, crimson stains that darkened and robbed the innocence of everything they touched, spreading like a plague, but giving as good and better as he got, slashing dangerously, expression that could cut glass, until he was swept up by the numbers like all his others)

-and was abruptly looking at the grinning face of his left hand and one of his best friends, his Rain. His Flames lept up, straining and longing, comforted, but wanting so badly the bond they had shared before to burn reassuringly in the back of his head ( _Tsuna, I'll always be there for you, you know that, right? I couldn't imagine a better Sky, I respect you so much, you were the first one to see past the false smile and still want me to be yours,_ he whispers one night, and the bond thrums with the sincerity of it). Tsuna's emotions cycled through shock, shame, anger, desperation, tentative happiness, joy, ecstaticness before Takeshi even noticed him.

When he did, his Rain's face went blank before morphing into the kind of cold, calculating, absolutely terrifying rage one only sees on natural hitmen like Takeshi (or damaged, cornered people who'd gone through atrocious experiences like Mukuro), then melting into a surprised, disbelieving, and cautiously hopeful expression, all at once, until it settled on ecstatic joy.

Like when he met his Mist, Tsuna just couldn't control his impulse to rush into Takeshi's arms. It appeared that his Rain needed it too, for he gently (oh so gently, for he felt how vulnerable his Sky was at the moment, one false movement and he'd shatter glass) picked Tsuna up and settled them in an unobstructive corner.

Tsuna whispered, "Welcome home, Takeshi. Sorry I don't have tea or sushi for you." Tea and sushi was what he used to make Takeshi whenever he got home from a mission, part of the greeting that every Family member received after returning to the Vongola mansion specifically tailored to them from Tsuna.

"It's okay, I make better sushi anyway," the Rain replied, stunned and half-smiling.

The person still there, interviewer, probable examiner, stood shellshocked, gazing at them until Takeshi glared at him with the special glare he reserved for people only a notch above those who hurt his Sky. The person reacted like Takeshi was going to burn him alive if he didn't leave (which he might), and scrambled out of the room. He then looked down and whispered small, cheery, Takeshi comforts to Tsuna even as he silently cried, so happy to have been reunited with his Sky, his anchor, his best friend. Tsuna couldn't quiet his heart-wrenching sobs, and his tears bled into Takeshi's shirt, but that was so insignificant compared to this moment that neither of them would have cared if Tsuna had blown snot bubbles all over his Guardian's face. Tsuna's right hand clenched Takeshi's shirt and his left clamped around Takeshi's back, knuckles white, as if he let go his best friend would disappear. Their bond clicked into place once again as Takeshi cradled Tsuna delicately (but no less fearfully) and hummed, _natural just right_ , in their Flames, hearts, and the back of their heads.

-.-.-.-

They could have remained there forever, missed the exam, except about forty minutes later, when Tsuna's sobbing had died down to full-body trembles and he was still gripping, gripping, his Rain, Fon entered, dragging the interviewer (examiner?) with him.

Fon's expression softened as he observed the scene. He spoke directly to the two teenagers, "Yuntello-san has kindly agreed to pass you. Now, you will follow me to the exam site, unless you do not wish to arrive there."

Takeshi helped Tsuna up and anchored him, steadied him with a hand on his arm and with a melodious, miraculous bond between them. He wiped his Sky's tears and turned to Fon with a gaze full of Will.

"Let's go, Tsuna," he nudged, "the others are waiting for you."

 ** _The others are waiting for you,_** Intuition echoed urgently, his Flames in complete agreement. Despite how he wanted to curl up and bask in the thread of blue connected to his Flames now, there wasn't anything for it but to follow the insistent tug. (Of Takeshi, Flames, Intuition and emotion.) He pierces his sensei and best friend with his resolved, Willing eyes, and nods.

And they are off.

To complete Tsunayoshi's Family, to heal his Flame and the void in his chest.

-.-.-.-

Of course, it couldn't be easy. No, Fon pushed Tsuna to the very limit, physically and emotionally. He led them around in completely unnecessary circles, around bends then back again, taking the longest way possible. And all the time, he stayed just in sight, but if Tsuna didn't push his limits, he'd lose his navigator. Despite how much training he'd undergone in his five and a half years with Fon, running for three straight hours at max Tsuna speed was exhausting. And something he was never going to do again.

(His Intuition laughed at him. He studiously ignored it.)

Then his Intuition shifted to anticipation, singing **_yellowbrightyellowlightshining,_** and he heard the "EXTREME!" from around the corner before he collided with the brick wall that was Onii-san's body-or he would have, if Takeshi hadn't yanked Tsuna back just in time.

"DID I KNOCK YOU DOWN?" Ryohei asked, in normal Ryohei volume. "I'M EXTREMELY SORRY! LET ME HELP YOU UP!"

Then he looked down and saw Tsuna-

(bandages long torn, filthy, bloodstained, like the childish naivete Ryohei used to hold that the mafia had ruined, one hand and another leg ripped off, balancing on a slick wall just to stay upright, fighting with all his fierce love, protectiveness and enthusiasm in only one fist [so sorry I messed up dragged you into this but please forgive me dont punish me by leaving], even as the life slowly leeches out of him and it's so horrible to see that Will die, or at least not be enough to save him [you are my sunshine my only sunshine you made me happy when skies are gray you'll never know dear how much I loved you even after they took you away] [please let me find you i need you my healer])

-and his face twisted up like he ate something really sour, not really sure what expression to make.

Tsuna just stared up at Ryohei before climbing onto him and clinging like a koala, tears falling and trembling again, and his Sun doesn't object. He buried his head in Ryohei's neck and the edge of his shirt. Ryohei's voice is uncharacteristically calm and soft when he says, "Hello to the extreme, otouto. Don't worry. I've got you."

"Welcome home, Ryohei," he gasps out. "Sorry there's no mocha or pictures for you."

Ryohei's favorite drink was a mocha latte and of course his Sky made the best. He also loved visiting different places all over the world and seeing their different cultures, so they'd had several photography books that they'd look through and talk about whenever Ryohei returned from a mission.

Then the Sun faced Takeshi, they raced to find Fon, chatted lightly, and every so often, patted Tsuna's head and whispered things he needed to hear. The boxer recognized flashbacks when he saw them. He may not have been the best healer, but he was his Sky's healer, and that counted for something. He was actually very sensitive to the needs of his patients.

They chased after Fon for another hour, his pet monkey chattering obnoxiously and him maneuvering in ways that Tsuna thought were impossible before (not that he gave it more than a passing glance of attention now) and that his Rain and Sun somehow found ways to follow.

Out of consideration, Ryohei's voice stayed low until they went in a cozy-looking restaurant (but not until after a detour to the fancy, palace-like building beside it, which had distracted both Guardians) and Fon ordered something really weird and metaphorical that let them into the back room.

Fon smiled with a lethal undertone, eyes sharp, and said, "Reborn and I will never forget it if you fail this."

That was a terrifying enough threat to break through the haze of drugged Flames Tsuna was submerged in (for all of five minutes). He shuddered and Ryohei and Takeshi thumped his back (ow, they didn't know their own strength) in a brotherly moment of pity.

"We can't let you fail this, then," Takeshi said gravely. "No one should be subjected to that. I mean, I had plenty of fun watching Reborn 'teach' you last lifetime, but that's where I draw the line."

"We will extremely help you as much as possible, otouto," Ryohei vowed.

-.-.-.-

"Um, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Would you happen to know why the walls are moving?"

Tsuna mumbled, "'S an elevator," from his spot on Ryohei, from which he still hadn't moved.

Takeshi blinked in surprise at both how free he'd been with the question (it'd been a long time since he'd done that, the bond must be relaxing him) and that Tsuna had actually known the answer.

"Hyper Intuition," Tsuna mumbled again.

"Oh, yeah!" the Sun and Rain Flame users said in unison.

"That's a really extreme ability, Sawada! I had forgotten about that!" Ryohei continued and patted Tsuna again. And his hair. It was so fluffy! Even better than his sister's hair! Speaking of his sister... When had she gotten separated from him?

The door rumbled open.

-.-.-.-

When the door rumbled open, they were met with the sight of twenty-five-or-so other examinees.

A small (green?) man approached them, bearing badges. Tsuna's Flames, while still in bathed in afterglow, a part of them happy and content (the parts that had a blue and a yellow string twined around them peacefully), the other, unclaimed parts, stood as attentive and watchful as hounds. A tiny growl built up in his throat, but it was stopped by Takeshi before it became more substantial. His Rain's eyes said _it's okay, just trust me_.

 _Okay._

It was nice to have people to trust again.

He let Takeshi handle his 27 badge. His Rain got an 80 and his Sun got a 33, for some inexplicable reason. They started off to a corner, until-

-they were halted by a tonfa lodging into a (solid rock) wall where they'd been walking a millisecond before.

Tsuna's Flames stirred again.

-.-.-.-

A/N: so there's the beginning of this HxH KHR xover. I noticed that there were absolutely no regularly updating, not-abandoned, good stories in this section, and was like What? There are so many ideas I have for this! So I might do some other plotbunnies for this crossover.

Okay. Stuff for this story.

-Lots of angst, I love angsty!Tsuna, so that's one of the reasons he'll be having flashbacks during the whole story. I also love BAMF!Tsuna, so he'll be very defensive and possessive of his Family until his Flames calm down, which probably won't be until after the Exam or near the end of it when the crowds finally disperse.

-So yeah, there will be lots of flame theory scattered here and there, lots of freedom taken with that.

-And I'm planning to add Byakuran (not really the mares) and Xanxus, but at different points. Xanxus will definitely be after the Exam, if he arrives, and don't worry, he'll have the Officers with him.

-I would add Enma... But I've only read like 2 fanfictions with him, I don't have a grasp on his character. Dino, possibly. After the Exams.

-Reborn will show up, maybe the some other Arcobaleno. I might put Skull in the exam. I love BAMF!Skull.

-Yes, Gon and Co. will appear, but I don't know if they'll interact that much with the KHR crew. I'll probably write some scenes from their POV, occasionally. Otherwise, I might create a Ryohei/Takeshi/Gon alliance/awkwardly platonic friendship. But only for the people watching, they're not the type to be awkward.

-I can't put too many people here. Right now I have approximately 14 additions to the regular exam planned. If I want the last phases to go right, I have to add a bunch of OC appliants too. I don't want to add too many.

(Am I the only one who sees Gon as almost equally a Sun and a Sky? A Sunny Sky? That sounds about right.)

Anyway, please give me feedback! Love it? Want me to update? Please tell me what you liked! Hate it? Want me to burn it? Tell me why! Not saying I'll listen to you, but I'd like to know. If you just tell me 'update', 'cool', or 'I hate it', then I'll ignore you. I won't know what to fix.

So I'm planning to do an omake of why, inexplicably, the KHR characters end up with their fandom numbers. You'll find that out soon.

If you're confused about anything else, review or PM. I am planning to explain formatting stuff later, but I won't explain how the reincarnations happened unless I come up with a good reason. They did, okay?

I'll be lucky if I get two views on this. So please, please review?

Also, expect SPORADIC UPDATES. When I don't have any inspiration, my writing is painful. Not that it's not awkward and depressing already.

And haha, I'm totally not sorry for the cliffhanger.

~OperaEagle IcelynLacelett

edit 16 March 2017: So I went back and replaced the line breaks with better line breaks and added some scenes. Not really super important, but it smoothed things over a bit and I think it reads better.

Later that day: So the italics and bolds didn't transfer over. I did it all manually, _again._ You're welcome. I'm done.

Edit 14 April 2017: I don't I'll get to fit in as many characters as I wanted to. It's a hazard of trying to give each character good screen time.


	2. 2 Cloud x Storm x Arrive: Pre-Exam

Welcome back! Here is the long-awaited (haha, not) (im so sorry this is so late) 2nd chapter!

See warnings in first chapter. Takeshi and Reborn are trolls. And Tonpa fails. (It's just bad luck Hibari is the first rookie he sees. Poor Tonpa.)

Um, this chapter is a bit more fluff-oriented. Not that much, but it's there.

Disclaimer: Ha. Ha. Ha. I wish.

-.-.-.-

A Sky's Soothing Solace

(Or, Second Chance in a Marvelous New World)

Chapter 2

Cloud x Storm x Arrive

-.-.-.-

*, ^, #, %, 1, and signs like these signify a footnote.

-,-,-,-

 _He let Takeshi handle his 27 badge. His Rain got an 80 and his Sun got a 33, for some inexplicable reason. They started off to a corner, until-_

 _-they were halted by a tonfa lodging into a (solid rock) wall where they'd been walking a millisecond before._

 _Tsuna's Flames stirred again._

"Omnivore," Kyoya stated in a deadpan voice that almost hid the trembling and longing in it, completely ignoring the other Guardians in close quarters. "You're late."

(the steel of tonfa completely hidden by crimson liquid, covering and clinging to the rest of his body as tightly as a second skin, burns and bullet holes dotting his body [dont go i need you runrunrun far away and never come back im so sorry i ripped you from your beloved namimori you'll never get to protect it again now], but black, determined eyes unbending and unshakeable burning with Will to protect and bite-to-death, even as he can barely stand through the pain of internal bleeding he leaves trails of downed enemies in his wake [thank you for everything im sorry you were my watcher i never told you how happy you made me please dont pay for my sins stay alive im sorry i hurt you], fighting from the fringes, pinpointing enemies that would have snuck up and killed other Family members much more quickly, dispatching them easily except for sheer number, then finally, he falls to the absolute hoard that mob him [no why did i drag you into this im sorry just be alive stay with me dont leave me alone])

"I know," Tsuna mumbled from his perch, face finally popping up to stare at the skylark. "I'm so happy to see you, Kyoya." His voice's shakes weren't hidden, and the rapture wasn't dampened either, despite the memories of Kyoya's corpse that converged on him. And he smiled, as brightly as Ryohei's Flames, his face streaming with new trails that followed and wettened the dried ones, and scrambled down off of his Sun to barrel into his newest found Guardian.

Kyoya's expression went completely blank in an effort to hide how much he enjoyed this position. At the same time, though, his inner 'if-you-touch-me-I-will-bite-you-to-death' radar shrieked at him to put a stop to the contact. His Cloud Flames, in complete disagreement, purred and desired to coil around his lost Sky and keep him from ever disappearing again.

He stood strong and merely stated, "One time only, small-animal-omnivore."

Tsuna just clutched his chest, head buried again, and sobbed, euphoric smile never leaving.

Before this could get any more embarrassing (enough people were staring already),Kyoya cleared a path with a Death GlareTM to a corner where he nestled down, shifting the overcome teen in his arms to accommodate for a sitting position. Tsuna curled up in Kyoya's lap, but looked up when he felt the threads of blue and yellow tied to his Flames tighten a little as the Rain and Sun headed away towards a different direction.

"Don't leave," he cried, hands shooting out to reach for them, "I just found you and it's the most wonderful thing, there's _something_ in my chest again and I'm warm, _finally,_ don't take the warmth with you-"

Kyoya's glare dared them to disagree, not that it was needed.

Immediately they dashed back to their Sky, crouching next to him and taking his hands in theirs.

"No, no," Takeshi rushed to reassure him, "we won't ever leave you, if that's what you want. We just thought you'd like some time alone with Hibari."

"We were extremely wrong," his Sun states solemnly. "We won't do that again."

Takeshi continued quietly, "Thank you for not giving up on us," (the _me_ was heard loud and clear) "You've never left us on purpose. You don't know how much that means. You really are the kindest, most considerate, best Sky anyone could wish for." With that, they settled a short distance away to let Kyoya have his own emotional reunion without feeling too intruded upon.

The skylark let a small portion of his Flame slip into his hands. Instinctively, Tsuna also unleashed part of his, and they mingled, snapping a Guardian bond in place and Synchronizing# almost immediately. The thread untwists at the meeting point in their bond and spreads out, blazing among Tsuna's own Flames, separate but together, like oil drops in a bowl of water.

Last lifetime, it had taken years, over a decade, to reach this stage with all of his Guardians, Xanxus, the girls, and Reborn. It meant that they understood each other's thoughts, actions, and accepted them wholly, as much as is possible for another human being. The Flames had to physically meet. Another requirement was that the Flames had to accept each other instinctively so well that the Flame signature was memorized and welcomed on contact. Welcomed enough that it was treated as the Flame user's own Flame, and allowed to burn right along with it in the chest.

The user was not able to wield it like his own, but that didn't detract from the experience, so much more intimate, intense and loving than a normal Guardian bond, warm and knowing. It was wonderful and everything that Tsuna had ever wanted, to know that he was so valued by his Family.

Kyoya smirked like a true carnivore. He had not been the first to bond, but let it not be said that he couldn't find another way to mark his claim. He had Synchronized with his small-animal-ominvore Sky first.

Tsuna started humming absentmindedly, as his Flames were drunk on the two sudden but utterly familiar and so _right and soothing and comfortable_ bonds and Synchronization. Soon it developed into a lullaby sung softly in the voice of an angel, for only his precious people.

This grabbed the attention of the idiots who had underestimated the small animal already and dismissed him, but were confused and kept sneaking glances at their corner every so often to try and understand why their instincts tugged at them to be closer.

Kyoya sympathized, not that he would say so, since they were weak herbivores who didn't know a death sentence if it was dumped over their head like killing intent from a true carnivore (or for those who don't speak Hibari:a bucket of ice cold water). He had been similarly confused until he had seen the small-animal-omnivore stand up to the Varia Boss at the Sky battle, and not fully convinced until the Future Incident.

Until they came to their own conclusions specifically tailored to their own reality filters, Kyoya wouldn't help. He could not care less. He had better things to do, like listen to the angel summoning his small-animal-omnivore was performing.

Inevitably, the other semi-herbivores crept closer to hear his Sky better. Kyoya glared at them in irritation, not expecting it to actually impact them, and it didn't. The sword semi-herbivore was too good at manipulating his clueless aura that seemed to work on everybody but Tsuna, Kyoya, and Reborn, and the boxing semi-herbivore was actually clueless. He wouldn't recognize the killing intent of a true carnivore until he was dead. Or until it barely brushed Tsuna, at which point the threat would be in shreds with five or six, give a few maybe, weapons buried in its pathetic herbivore chest.

Seriously. Why couldn't they see that his omnivore was obviously overprotective to the point of being like a mother polar bear, or that Kyoya would never let any threat, much less a mere herbivore, get within five miles of standing a chance of grazing his small-animal-omnivore? It was irritating him now. So insulting.

He glared, pride inflamed, at the hopelessly unsubtle herbivores watching his omnivore until they fell under his superior status as a carnivore. They were as obvious as newly born deer trampling through underbrush. Kyoya would abandon his small-animal-omnivore in the middle of an ambush before baring his throat to herbivores such as these. He thought that an Exam rumoured to be so difficult would have more prime stock than this, but it appeared that almost everyone was weaker than he had thought they would be.*

The mountainside tribe that he had been born into in this world was even stronger than his old Hibari yakuza family _and_ his old mother's very dangerous assassin family. If that did not express how strong, carnivorous, and content he was with them, he could not communicate it any clearer.

His attention was drawn back to his small-animal-omnivore by the singing settling back into satisfied humming and the fact that he shifted position until he was sitting up, off of Kyoya's lap, but still leaning on his shoulder.

Five minutes later, not bearing not being able to touch the source of all three bonds again but still being too high on Flames to control motor functions to much extent, he rolled off of Kyoya's shoulder and in front of his other Guardians. He didn't have to poke them many times before the message to open their limbs so that he could have physical contact got through, what with being so attuned to their Sky. Still, it was kind of hard to read him in his drunken euphoria.$ Not that they were much better themselves, but Takeshi was at the very least glad he didn't have to deal with this three times over.

Tsuna rolled (flopped, really) onto the offered limbs, tugging Kyoya with him so that he could have contact with all three of them at once.

Kyoya wanted to disapprove of this action, and his 'if-you-touch-me-I-will-bite-you-to-death' radar did, but only objectively and not enough to cause any actual objections. (HIbari for: ignore your inner skeptic until such a time a you can unlock it and be mentally sound.) His small-animal-omnivore's eyes were half-mast, and he really should be disappointed by the herbivorous action and crowding that he was forced to participate in, but he was acting too much like a small, fluffy animal to be irritated at presently.

He could not resist reaching down to pat the small animal's hair.

-.-.-.-

This exam wasn't shaping up to be particularly horrible in regards to Tonpa's favorite sport, rookie crushing. At least not to all physical appearances.

He had participated enough times in the Hunter Exams over the years that he'd managed to get to the site early, under twenty, like always.

The first foretelling sign was that it wasn't under ten, the way it had been for the past five years. It wasn't a really big deal, nothing that anyone would notice, but it still stung his pride a tiny bit.

He was an expert at navigating the initial three phases of the exam. He knew that he had two days to wait out, so he'd brought a little of his own rations in his pants pockets, like all veterans did. (The food that the Exam Committee brought down during the waiting period was delicious, but only the quickest and strongest actually got to it before it was snatched up.) Then, he chose a strategic, overhanging ledge where he would be able to cordially greet new rookies from when Beans was done handing out badges.

(In the back of his mind, he realized that the number 2 badge had been skipped over. Why?)

But he had a really bad feeling about this year's rookies. Like they were totally out of his league, not the way Hisoka was but worse. Like… they had a longer fuse but when it blew it was worse?

(How was that even possible?)

The first rookie to come in was number 18, only two after him. He looked to be of Azian origin, with black hair and steel-gray eyes. His stance was one of utter confidence and experience. He looked… well, dangerous. And a little bored. On these types that was never a good thing.

So… give him something to be excited about? But in a clever way that he could trap 18 and take him out of the running. He didn't think the juice he had prepared would work on this one.

(Not that he was expecting it to… if someone got this far, they knew the basic principle of not taking strangers' food. But their impressions of him would be that he was dumb and they could handle anything he threw at them.)

He looked like one of those prideful guys. Insulting their pride a bit but not too much was the way to get them to lower their guard enough to stay alive and find out the best way to crush them later.

However… there was the air around this one that said getting him irritated was bad news. Maybe flattery was the way to go.

Eh, he wasn't one for much thinking after analyzing a rookie's personality initially. Might as well go all in!

(Until he sensed enough danger that it'd really be dangerous.)

He stalked1 up to the newcomer and said "Hey, rookie," in a friendly tone of voice, to communicate his 'intentions.'

18 didn't even appear to hear him. He took off towards a corner.

He jogged to keep up, then stuck his hand into 18's field of vision and raised his voice a bit. "Hi! I'm Tonpa, who are you?"

A metal stick (?) hit him in the face. 18's hand must have slipped, but dang did that hurt.

"Ahaha, you're forgiven, I'm sure you didn't mean for that to happen, I mean we all have bad days," Tonpa found himself rambling, as if unconsciously he wanted to be noticed by this powerful predator. "Anyway, as I said, I'm Tonpa and I know most of the people around here, if you need any information-"

This time, the stick sunk into his gut. He keeled over, gasping for breath. By the time he'd regained it, 18 was long gone. He spotted the other practically teleported on the opposite side of the almost-empty waiting room.

He ran there. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, that would get him noticed by this person, one reaction that he could base a profile on, but all that came out was-

"Notice me, senpai,"

-in a squeak.2

As soon as those words registered in his mind, Tonpa froze and wondered how the heck _that_ had happened.

"Go away, herbivore," 18 said in a voice that promised pain and doom and was even laced with a little killing intent (how?!). "I'm only waiting for one small-animal-omnivore, and I don't have the patience to look after a herd right now."

Okay, what? He'd seen a lot of weird speech patterns from candidates, but this was perhaps the oddest. How did he know if someone only ate vegetables? That wasn't even possible!

As he was standing there dazed, 18's fingers messed up again. The stick slammed his throat in an unforgiving way, and Tonpa got the message and left.

 _Very prickly, does not like to be disturbed, thinks other people inferior, has weird metaphors and impressive killing intent. Uses metal sticks. Rather clumsy with them, though they seem to automatically respond to his subconscious wishes._

 _Depressingly short list._

-.-.-.-

The elevator opened and three examinees stepped out.

There was only one other rookie before this, and he'd turned down the drinks after an argument that would have escalated into screaming had 18 not interfered. He got a good profile on that one, thankfully. Even without Tonpa's help, it was likely that without an ace up his sleeves, the newbie'd be gone before the third phase.

One of them had white hair and was wearing a baggy shirt and pants and white bandages. One examinee was literally piggybacking him. He/she was a tiny little thing with fluffy, gravity-defying brown hair. His/her face wasn't visible, but he/she didn't look like he/she'd stand much of a chance at all if he/she was this dependent on someone else. How had they even gotten here?

The last was a bit more imposing, but not by much. His messy black hair was spiky and he appeared to have solid muscle. A wrapped, probable weapon was strapped to his back.

His face, a goofy, jovial one, ruined everything though.

This group was made up of complete jokers! It would be so easy to crush them. Offer a little help for their infirm member, act sympathetic, and then set them up and watch it unfold!

He lurked nearby until the badges were on and then started towards them, smile already in place, until 18 suddenly stalked past him and he froze.

Was he going to beat the rookies up? He looked absolutely menacing enough to at the moment.

He watched in trepidation, awe, fear, and a bit of glee as a metal stick lodged itself in a wall right next to the rookie with the fluffy brown hair.

"Omnivore," he growled in a tone that made Tonpa and the other examinees that were eavesdropping shiver, "You're late."

 _What?! This is the person he was waiting for?! There's no way, that guy is so weak!_

Then a tearstreaked face popped up out of the bandaged one's neck. Tonpa had assumed him/her to be sleeping, but apparently not. The androgynousness got worse, too.

"I know," he/she said, after a pause where something like nostalgia and another emotion Tonpa couldn't name flashed across his/her face. _He/she knows this antisocial… freak of nature?+_ "I'm so happy to see you, Kyoya."

Tonpa's brain short-circuits. _Happy to see_ him? _Even I can tell he doesn't like company very much._

Then the other freak of nature climbs down from the bandaged one, 33, and rams into 18's chest. Tonpa holds back a wince. Whatever 18 will do in response is not going to be pretty.

But at 18's statement of, "One time only, small-animal-omnivore," Tonpa froze. If he didn't know better, he'd say that 18 exuded… contentedness? No. It must be his imagination.

He inched backwards and resolved to check in on them at a later time.

-.-.-.-

He managed to stop hyperventilating until 27 (he'd finally caught sight of the badge number) began to sing ethereally.

It was like pure, clear bells.

Okay, that was it. He was going to destroy 18 and 27 both and return the universe to its proper order, where tiny thin wraiths did not sing extraordinarily well for antisocial freaks of nature and antisocial freaks of nature who hit anyone that tried to physically touch them (subconsciously or not) did not accept being clung to by tiny thin wraiths. At this point, it was not only a matter of the heady giddiness Tonpa got when he demolished another person's hope, but also of his continued mental health.

Surely this new person would protect an innocent like Tonpa, right? 27 seemed to hold some sway over 18.

He started forward with renewed determination. He was sure that as soon as he got past 18, he'd make short work of the rookies and have desperate faces to cackle over for the rest of the exam.

27's beautiful face would look so delicious filled with fear and hopelessness.%

He walked up right as 18 patted 27's hair and introduced himself right away.

"Hello! I'm Tonpa, and I just wanted to welcome you to the Hunter Exam! I'm a veteran, I've taken the exam 35 times, and I'm here if you need any information or anything!"

80 and 33 were the only ones who actually paid any attention. 33 only glanced up before looking back down at 27 again. 80 just sort of stared at him incredulously for a brief moment, as if he couldn't believe Tonpa would think he'd be so dumb, and another unreadable, dangerously sharp look slashed across his face before it was completely gone. It passed in a blink, replaced by a sheepish expression.

"Haha, thanks! It's nice to know that there's at least one nice guy with proper manners here!" 80 admitted, a hint of hardened undercurrent to it. But surely Tonpa was just imagining it. It was almost a shame what he was about to do, but each Exam had its oblivious group that accepted his concoction, and he was sure he'd just found this one's.

(He relaxed unconsciously somehow, his worries easing.)

"Yeah, there can be lots of tension," Tonpa agreed. "It'll only get worse. Hey, do you want some juice?" He started to rummage through his side bag, until, very suddenly, he felt cool metal on the side of his head and saw 80's gaze snap up to see whoever it was. _Was that a gun?!_

"Either those are poisoned, or you're lying about being a veteran," a dark voice purred. "Want to know which one I think it is?"

The clear threat in the voice makes Tonpa shake. "It-they're-they're not poisoned!" he denied frantically.

The voice chuckled darkly and continued with false perfunctory lightness, "Laxatives, then? That doesn't make it better." Searing eyes bored into him, absolutely relishing his panic and spluttering.

"Shut up and get out," the voice finally snapped. "And don't come back again."

Tonpa turned tail, not even bothering to look back at the owner of that frightening voice.

Okay, time to leave that group alone.

Well, if he couldn't corner 80.

-.-.-.-

Yamamato Takeshi listened to Tsuna's song with what must be a dopey addict's grin, but he couldn't care less.

Tsuna was back and so was his Guardian bond and a lot of what he'd been missing in this lifetime was back, the rest of it soon to follow.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, relishing the long-forgotten feeling of Tsuna's legs tangled with his and how it made his bond thrum with warmth and comfort.

This life… it had its high and low points. He liked his ninja life and the training he'd been able to master with expert swordsmen. He loved the occasional spars and stealth he'd acquired with time. But he also missed his family, the loud, rowdy bunch they'd been. They had the best reactions to his teasing (especially Hayato). He'd longed for his Sky, who had accepted him unconditionally and known him inside and out, as no one in this life did, as no one else was able to. He'd been reminded, once again, that only certain people bothered to look past his mask, and none of them were with him.

When he heard loud footsteps growing closer and closer, he gave no sign of hearing them. It was only when the person spoke that he glanced up.

The person's number was 16 and his nose was shaped like a box. He carried a messenger bag and was a bit potbellied.

He also wasn't a threat. Or, well, he had fishy intentions but wasn't strong, smart, or quick enough to follow through with them, and was probably a huge coward.

Fifteen different ways to eviscerate/castrate this Tonpa flashed through his mind, and his hands shifted to an ideal position to draw the katana strapped to his back in less than a quarter of a second. Takeshi would happily carry out these scenarios if Tonpa tried to lay a finger on his Sky.

These thoughts lasted only a second, though, and he recovered in time to answer Tonpa in a nonsuspicious manner. "Haha, thanks! It's nice to know that there's at least one nice guy with proper manners here!" He released a bit of Rain Flames to relax Tonpa's uncertainty and hopefully nudge him to be a bit more confident and obvious with his scheme.

It worked, as Takeshi could see the other's face gain a hidden shadow of gleeful eagerness and his muscles relax as plain as day. He answered, "Yeah, there can be lots of tension. It'll only get worse. Hey, do you want some juice?"

So that was the fishy scheme. Takeshi couldn't help but be amused; his initial assessment of unthreatening and cowardly was right. Three types of people used poison that might be traced back to them: assassins that were good enough they'd never get caught but wanted someone to chase them anyway, suicidal people, and Stupid cowards. Tonpa definitely fit into the last category.

Well, it would be easy enough to deal with him. The swordsman's Flames coiled in anticipation of all the things he could do to make sure that Tonpa never glanced in the direction of his Sky again. A third of them involve the coward's death.

Then a figure Takeshi hadn't noticed stepped out of the shadows, and Takeshi visibly jolted. Not many people were able to sneak up on him now, not with the ninja training he'd undergone.

All the mysteries and alarm bells within his mind dissolved when he heard its voice, though.

"Either those are poisoned, or you're lying about being a veteran. Want to know which one I think it is?"

That voice, silky, velvety smooth and rich like dark chocolate, could only belong to one person. Reborn. And Reborn would never harm his Sky, not once in a million years. Well, in every area but physically, at least, and that was what mattered at the moment. Takeshi could feel how unstable and grasping his Sky's Flame was, and that was never a good sign. Besides the Flame instincts that came with specific types, Flames were reflections of the soul. (Well, besides extremely Classic Clouds like Hibari. They were exceptions to, like, every rule ever. You couldn't tell a full range of emotions through a bond with them like you could with other people.) Flames could never lie. They communicated only the purest of emotions.

In the background, Reborn was poking at Tonpa with words, and Takeshi enjoyed a few moments of pathetic stuttering before the urge to maim the man so that he can be left alone in peace with his Sky returned. Luckily for Tonpa, Reborn ordered the disruption to "shut up and get out. Don't come back," before he acted on the prompting.

Despite the coldness of his tone, Takeshi knew that Reborn was really amused, though the layer of disgust for such a coward wasn't faked. The only way Takeshi could read him that well was lots and lots of practice and his instincts.

Reborn was so dangerous that his developed instincts automatically zeroed in on every shift of his mood and body, and it doesn't help that Takeshi's new body has not had any experience with Reborn in this new life and that his presence was an absolute utter void even five feet away in clear view. Every guard he had was slammed up, even through his sluggish Flame. Still, Takeshi remained Takeshi, as his next comment illustrated.

"Aw, I wanted to hack off his right calf," he stated, laughing a little. "That guy was super annoying. I bet he'd be horrible at ball, haha."

He assessed the situation from the corner of his eye. Most of the eavesdroppers had been scared away by the previous scene with Tonpa. He felt a surge of vindictive satisfaction. Those 2D figures had no right to be ogling his Sky like he was a zoo animal.

"More than likely you'll get plenty of chances," Reborn remarked.

The ones who were still listening in recoiled a little at the conversation, probably feeling creeped out by the uncaring tone of voice they'd used. Those silly little paper cutouts. They should be worried about themselves and what would happen to them if Takeshi decided they were a threat to his Sky.

Reborn knelt down next to Tsuna and, in a rare moment of gentleness, fingered the light brown hair softly before poking his cheek.

(Takeshi realized in the back of his head that Reborn's badge number was 1.)

Tsuna's eyes opened; they were amber-gold now, breathtaking and vivid. He smiled the smile that unfailingly dropped every single person's guard Takeshi had ever seen it used on, and he could see why. His Sky didn't even know he did it, but Takeshi thought that was what made it so effective. Even though his Sky understood the pain and suffering of life and cared about other's pain more than Takeshi ever could, even though his hands were drenched in blood, he could still smile so brightly and innocently. It practically injected anyone within eyeshot with hope.

His Sky tugged on Reborn's shirt insistently, and when the tall male finally leaned down Tsuna pressed a kiss onto his forehead and hugged him tightly.

"Welcome home, Reborn," his Sky mumbled. "Sorry I don't have an espresso for you."

This was a ritual that Takeshi used to see every time Reborn came home from a mission. Tsuna would kiss him on the forehead, give him a hug, and sit him down at the booth in the kitchen while he made an espresso for Reborn and a drink for everyone else present in the room. They chatted about the mission and Vongola news and situations.

Each greeting was different for each family member. Takeshi would sit in the booth, polishing his katana, and be talked to while his Sky made him sushi and tea. They usually ate together when both of them finished with their respective tasks.

He'd watched Lambo's before; he got grape juice and a stick of grape candy. After the juice was finished, Tsuna would tug Lambo's head down into his lap and hummed a lullaby, carding through Lambo's hair. Tsuna firmly rebuffed his halfhearted protests every time this happened. Takeshi knew he treasured those moments, just as every family member treasured their own tailored greeting from the Vongola Sky.

The Rain knew that Hayato's involved music somehow, too.=

"I'll let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn replied, smirking and flicking his former student's forehead. "A mafia boss should always be prepared for the needs of his advisors."

Tsuna blinked up at him, all innocent and surprised, and Takeshi melted a little on the inside. "But I'm not a mafia boss anymore, Reborn," Tsuna slowly stated, as if he was just realizing this himself and didn't quite believe it. "It's so weird. I didn't think I'd miss it this much…"

Reborn just smirked down at him. The amber-eyed young man yawned suddenly and curled more into his Guardians, closing his eyes.

Reborn nodded to Takeshi. "I'll be nearby," he said. Takeshi nodded and watched the black-haired void of presence slip away. His mind gradually calmed down and ceased being so hyperaware.

Tsuna mewled in protest at the tutor disappearing, but he was shut down by all three of the present Guardians.

"I wonder who'll be next," Takeshi mused. "I bet one hundred jenny it'll be Hayato."

"I extremely bet that Kyoko will arrive next!" Ryohei offered.

"Hibari? How about you?" Takeshi turned to the young man with a closed-eyed smile and sparkles in the background around him. When he opened them, he could see the glare that said 'betting-is-for-herbivores-who-don't-have-anything-better-to-do-go-away', not that he expected anything different. Successfully not chuckling at the reaction, he shrugged in defeat.

"You don't have to, you know. No need to glare at innocents like that," he informed the Cloud cheerfully, and this time had to dodge a tonfa.

Luckily, that was it, and nothing else happened.

-.-.-.-

Tsuna huddled closer to his Guardians, basking in the warmth and comfort they provided. He was so, so happy! The parts of his Flame that had claimed another to protect and shelter purred and leaped playfully. The other parts watched reproachfully, sulking at the fact that they had to wait a little longer before laying claim to a new Element or family member.

Suddenly, Intuition picked up, buzzing excitedly. **_explosionssmokegunpowder,_** it intoned.

Tsuna knew what that meant.

The rumbling elevator came to a stop and out strolled Hayato-

(he flings dynamite after dynamite, standing tall and unbending in the task of protecting what was most important to him [i love you forgive me please leave run live forget me and move on be happy let me go], jade green eyes like steel, chunks blown and carved out of his arms and legs, smoke rising around him, coughing but always pushing forward, eyes tearing up from the smoke, snarling and taunting enemies, defiant, still eternally faithful to his Jyuudiame, even in the end [youre so hurt i cant heal you like im meant to im sorry you never should have trusted me so much i cant even keep you safe], calculating and exacting, searching and searching for an escape, a desperate plan, _anything,_ stabbing out with the short daggers he carried for situations just like this, then he falls, bone and mangled muscle visible on his chest from his own bomb thrown back at him, blood splattered all over his injuries and clothes, crimson as his Flame)

-his right-hand man, best friend, and Storm. His Flames tugged at him again, and he barely realized it when he wriggled out of his other found Elements' grasps and dashed to embrace Hayato, tears falling thickly again.

"Jyuu… Jyuudiame?" he questioned, voice hoarse and stunned and overwhelmed. "Tsuna?"

Tsuna nodded repeatedly and buried his head in Hayato's rose-smoke-gunpowder-piano-polish scent. He collapsed, as weak as a noodle, when the bond clicked into place and slammed into him. Hayato instinctively acted as a brace. He smiled brilliantly again.

"Welcome home, Hayato," Tsuna murmured to the Storm. "Sorry I don't have lasagna or the piano. I could still sing you the lullaby."

Despite the Guardian supporting his Sky physically, it was the opposite way emotionally. Tsuna's Flame smoothed over his rampaging feelings and anchored him with strength borrowed from his Guardians' previous comforts that same day. He knew Hayato would need him right now.

On autopilot, the silver-haired young man steered them to a blank stretch of wall, sliding down and staring disbelievingly. He brushed some stray hairs from his missing Jyuudiame's forehead.

He seemed to be in shock.

For all that Tsuna's body had melted into a puddle of goo, his mind must be in a much better state than Hayato's. He whispered, "Yes, it's me, Hayato. And I still love you just the same, I promise."

Tsuna's Sky Flame and Intuition handed him the words he had to say. No one could have Bonded or Synchronized without understanding each other's core values, what made them tick. And when you understand a person as well or almost as well as they understand themselves, you easily love them just as much as they love themselves.

It was doubly so for Tsuna, who was an extremely powerful Sky, had Hyper Intuition, and was just naturally empathetic and compassionate.

Tsuna could tell that some parts of his Storm had changed, but all his essential personality components had remained the same. That was all that was needed and more for a Guardian bond. He could feel out the changes in his family later. Now to comfort his Storm.

"The storm rages and thunder crackles,

The boat rocks and we stumble.

But don't be afraid, can't you hear my heartbeat?

Listen, find the rhythm in yours

"The clouds and lightning have a rhythm too

Look closely and hear the wind's pattern,

Even as it howls, and sync your heartbeat

To nature's own. Then you can find

"The eye in your own storm,

The purpose to your waking moments,

The passion to pour your hours into,

The one you love most of all.

"Then come back to me and let

Our hearts and passion beat as one.

We will steady one another and no longer

Waver in our purpose, but be the eye of the storm."

As the first verse began in Tsuna's heavenly tones, the silver-haired male broke down, coming out of his shock. His Flame swirled and clenched as it instinctively reacted to the unique lullaby Tsuna wrote just for him. He sat there, snotty and wet and teary and utterly euphoric, as he clutched his Sky and his Sky clutched back.

There was a reason that Tsuna was the only one that let the Storm cry on him. He didn't cry tragically, silently, _or_ neatly. No, there were many tears, snorts, and globs of snot. (Tsuna liked to think of his Storm as crying explosively, a reflection of his personality and Flame.) But it all worked out well, as Tsuna was the only person Hayato would ever cry on.

Gradually, after more than an hour and a half, Hayato's Flame haze cleared enough for him to worry about his Sky. "I-I'm sorry I wasn't there," he breathed, voice gritty and layered. "You must have been so confused and alone in the beginning—I should have been there—"

Amber-gold eyes snapped to jade green. "No," Tsuna said firmly. "Don't blame yourself. I'm sure you felt just as horrible early on. All of us could have used someone. Just please—for now, stay here, quietly bask for a moment."

Hayato nodded. Tsuna's eyes closed and his head dropped to his Guardian's chest. The other threads connected to his Flame had tightened the slightest bit and he was being urged to travel back to his other Guardians, but he held out. _Just a little longer until he stops crying, then we'll go._

-.-.-.-

Hayato was just winding down when his still-minutely-sniffling Sky motioned for them to go somewhere.

"It's the back left corner," he pointed.

Hayato carried him bridal style to the place he'd indicated. When they arrived, the bomber just about yelled aloud for shock. This was not what he'd envisioned! He'd thought it would be just him and his Sky, occasionally having to deal with the pineapple. Which… now that he looked back on it, was stupid. And, though he'd never admit it aloud, he had missed the rest of his family.

Towards the end of his last life, he'd started tolerating the others more on the premise of Jyuudiame needing them. He'd also realized that they weren't going to leave and accepted defeat. (The 'chat' Jyuudiame had held with him about teamwork and a smoothly running Vongola may or may not have had to do with it, either. And the stare Reborn had bored into him every meeting after that.)

From toleration, the bonds gradually grew to friendliness in tiny increments that crept up on him over the years. As the Guardians and inner-circle Family fought time and time again to bring down adversaries before their Sky fell instead, he began to see them as equals who wanted to protect Jyuudiame as much as he did, which was a big wake-up call.

Then he was torn away from them and transported here. He only realized how they'd all meant the world to him after being without them for years, turning around and expecting to see the sword freak laughing obnoxiously or the cow blinking lazily and meeting nothing but empty air. He'd been nearly-suicidal until he'd met Shiochi and Spanner again, and even then it was his older sister Bianchi who'd kept him alive for that long. Then he'd thrown himself into training, because sparring was a good outlet, explosions, because they were an almost-even-better outlet, and researching this world's crazy animals that totally counted as UMAs, because passion.

When Mukuro showed up and told him Jyuudiame would be waiting for him at the Hunter Exam, he'd trained extra hard and color had bled back into his life again. He found himself enjoying the simple things. Everything that reminded him of Vongola (virtually everything) didn't make him want to blow it up, burn the pieces, and then stab himself anymore.

Now he had finally found his Sky. His Flame leaped in joy and _burned,_ high and satisfied like a bonfire. All he needed was to find the rest of his Family, then he and Jyuudiame could be happy, if not safe and peaceful.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed reflexively. "I can take care of Jyuudiame on my own!"

"No, you can't. His Flames need all of us close," refuted Ryohei with an uncharacteristically searing, serious gaze. Hayato correctly identified it as the Sun "shut the heck up and do what I say, I'm the doctor and there will be _consequences_ if you don't" ™ look, and deflated.

"You'll just have to deal with us," the sword freak chuckled mirthfully.

Hayato shot him a glare that only made the chuckling worse. He gave up.

"Fine, whatever," he complained under his breath, sitting down next to the sword freak closer than was strictly necessary to give a grasping Tsuna maximum room to grab towards the others.

Now that his patient was back with him, Ryohei was all extreme energy once again. "It's extremely good to see you again, Gokudera!" he whisper-yelled. Probably out of concern for Jyuudiame, which was good.

"Yeah, yeah," Hayato scowled, inwardly ecstatic. This was the first time he'd ever felt real happiness in this life, and it was wonderful.

He settled against the wall, one hand on his Sky's shoes, one absently flicking a lighter on and off repeatedly. He pointedly ignored the Sun and Rain near him as they chatted quietly.

-.-.-.-

"Hey, Ryohei?" Takeshi spoke up an indeterminate amount of time later. "You owe me a hundred jenny."

The Sun's face lit up with realization. "I guess I extremely do!"

Hayato glanced between them, unimpressed. "What did you bet on?"

"Who would show up next," Takeshi answered, mind on the money Ryohei was counting out into his hand. "Want to join in?"

"I still bet on Kyoko," Ryohei confirmed.

"Hmm… this time I'll go for Lambo," Takeshi decided, turning to Hayato. "So?"

The Storm scowled at the cheerful, unaffected Rain for a few minutes before conceding. "A hundred and fifty on Hana, Haru, and Kyoko together," he grit out.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Sounds risky," he stated ominously.

Hayato growled, "Don't question me! If there's one thing I know about women, it's that they travel in packs!"

Completely ignoring the incensed young man, Takeshi continued as if he'd never spoken. "But exciting! Are you sure you won't participate, Hibari?"

The Cloud glowered at the Rain who looked completely innocent. "Silence, herbivore." His _hn_ told them "I've already stated my opinion on the matter, and you herbivores won't get me to change it."

 _Three guesses as to what that was_ , Hayato thought.

The group was distracted when Tsuna's arm shot out and he sat up halfway to grip the bomber's arm. "I bet with Hayato," he stated.

The swordsman, bomber, and boxer groaned.

"You can't extremely bet, otouto," Ryohei reminded him.

Last lifetime, betting had become somewhat of a pastime; there had been bets on how many wineglasses a day Xanxus would throw, which the main Vongola house was technically not supposed to be in on. There had been some bets on all the Guardians' behavior, with the outcome between the next infamous Mukuro/Hibari spar the most popular, followed by how much property damage each respective Guardian would make the Vongola pay for this week. Only a few brave souls besides the Vongola inner circle dared bet on Reborn. There was that one bet on whether or not Reborn would officially join the Vongola that most of the household participated in, though. The odds were 67:10. Those ten (guess who) were extremely rich by the end.

Though Tsuna had tried to stay clean and out of it, he eventually got pulled in too. After his twenty-third consecutive win, however, everyone declared the Hyper Intuition a cheat and Tsuna got downgraded to referee.

"You can't change now, that's Betting Rule Nineteen," Hayato stated smugly.

Tsuna had indeed instated the Betting Rules, Nineteen indeed being "if the Decimo slips up and accidentally says out loud what he thinks the outcome will be, nobody who has already bet may change their guess."

Number Three was "nobody let Reborn know about bets he is the subject of. Nobody. If you do, Decimo will set the Cloud Guardian on you personally."

Hibari generally ignored the Betting Rules, as betting was herbivorish behavior and unfitting for a carnivore. But he wouldn't turn down the Decimo's personal request. Still, Tsuna got the feeling that Reborn knew about them and was humoring him.

"Hmm?" Tsuna suddenly remembered. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay," Takeshi comforted. "One hundred jenny is barely enough to buy a jelly bean. And I already won once anyways."

Something occurred to Hayato.

"Wait. You bet on _me_?" he said incredulously.

"Yep!" Takeshi beamed. "Is that so hard to believe? I believe in you, Hayato!"

He received a flat stare for his efforts.

-,-,-,-

Footnotes:

*So the first part was supposed to be backstory but it turned into a Hibari character study. I couldn't help myself, he's so fascinating and cuddly and easy to write but at the same time so frustrating. He's so adorable with how overprotective he is of Tsuna and blatantly unashamed about it, even though he doesn't recognize his own feelings.

I had so much fun coming up with the animal analogies, though.

$-I'm so sorry, Tsuna's drunk and high at the same time x4 and it just gets worse as new people arrive but he just got his family back and it feels so good and all three parts of him (body, mind, and Flames) are at peace for the first time in this life, so he's really content and add to that the strain of like 8 guardian bonds within two days. Flame and mental exhaustion, guys, I can't be the only one to think that messing with Flames so majorly to accommodate for another person/element takes major work and effort.

# The Synchronization thing just kind of popped out in its own. It's been done before in The Turning Point, which is in my favorites, and I liked it and it decided to go there. Mostly it was because I was stalling and trying to decide who I wanted to introduce next, but meh. You're not supposed to know that. I have a reason for absolutely everything I write, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is a dirty liar. Even myself.

1-Nice try, Tonpa, but you're still an herbivore (scavenger?).

2-I couldn't resist. I just couldn't.

+He doesn't have a name to call Kyoya yet, since he doesn't know the full extent of Kyoya's prowess or even much about him. At least he knows he's not a regular civilian. (And it's kind of accurate.)

%-Interpret however you want on all the other hints. On this one, I am going to firmly state that if you actually ship Tonpa/Tsuna, you have a very… interesting mind. Please don't tell me. I don't want to know. All I am implying here is that (a) Tsuna's pretty, (b) Tonpa's a jerk, and (c), Tonpa's a jerk with a superiority complex.

=-So I just see Takeshi as not really caring about people who aren't in his family, like he says, "paper cutouts." He just thinks they don't really try to look past the surface, which is true a lot of the time. One of the other quirks in my Takeshi is that he's obtrusively curious in a uncaring way. Which basically means that he stumbles across a lot of secrets accidentally without knowing they're secrets. Not that he does anything with all the accidental, useless information he manages to collect other than the occasional blackmailing. He just likes to know. His 'hitman instincts' are a lot more honed in this life as well, if you couldn't tell.

-,-,-,-

So little hidden (haha, not) nuggets of yaoi all over this one. A lot faster than I expected. Not what I was really going for in this story, but I'm not the type of person to delete 2000 words that I worked really hard on and spent 2 to 3 hours writing (I'm not kidding, it takes that long) just because I dislike one nitpick. I don't disagree with where it's going either.

There won't be an official pairing, but if there was one, it would probably be All27, take a lot because who wants to write out all the people he might have moe moments with? That's like, everyone the adorable small-animal-omnivore (oh my gosh I don't even know why I did that but now that I did I can never go back, and I don't want to) interacts with. It's not a real pairing, he won't kiss anyone or anything, but read into it what you like. I won't be offended.

Blame the Flames if those moments make you uncomfortable. They addle the mind, and for a while, their Flame instincts will be much more prevalent than they might usually be. Which basically means self-indulgent possessive!Tsuna and Guardians.

So they want as much contact and closeness as possible because the bond is happier, stronger and warmer, when that happens. And after not being around his Family, the void in his chest has filled (mostly) and he never wants it to happen again.

Tonpa's part was super, super hard to write. I don't think he's as dense as most people believe him to be, I mean he's survived 35 Hunter Exams, but he is an obtuse idiot. Despite that, he recognizes danger when he sees it and can profile people. Remember that one episode (ep 3 in 2011) where Tonpa is _the_ information guy? He realized all of that about all of those people when they're not exactly giving away free facts about themselves, and he didn't have the advantage of watching them as the later phases forced them to draw on more of their skills. Anyway, whatever else we can say about Tonpa, he is persistent and has lots of self-preservation.

I broke down and wrote half of this on paper in present tense, so when I transitioned it into past, it might read kinda awkward… sorry.

The betting thing was just gonna be that little bit of fluff between Tonpa and Hayato to get a breather before we headed back into angst territory, but then it developed. We'll see where this goes.

I have backstories for a lot of people. Hayato has a degree in chem ;) More will be revealed as we go on, but I'm really excited for Fran and Reborn's backstory, just so we know~

Love love love (please review),

~OperaEagle IcelynLacelett

PS. Yes, this is probably what all of my footnotes/A/Ns will be like. Half-delirious, long and rambling. I didn't think it was that hard to read. And it answers a lot of questions. If I answered a question here that's asked in the reviews, I'm going to ignore you. Don't be obtuse idiots on _purpose,_ people. I hate those kinds of people even more than regular obtuse idiots.

PPS. Does anyone else want to see Mukuro screw with Hisoka?

PPPS. Please give me feedback specifically about what you think of my characterizations. I'm really nervous about this, and only one person has made a comment about Mukuro. And the bets? Were they funny at all? Haha? Ha... ha...


	3. Rest x of x Cast

*peeks out from behind corner* hello? Please don't kill me you need me for more writing -

 **prepare for a long but necessary a/n**

GUESS WHO'S BACK, B****ES?! THAT'S RIGHT! Ah, that feeling is good.

I've published more stuff since I updated last (that you should check out! They haven't done too well, sadly)

There's no excuse for letting a year stretch between updates. I'm extremely sorry for the wait and humbly apologize. ...Unfortunately, I can't promise that the waiting time will be any better this next one, but rest assured, I'm working on it. Updates are subject to muse, as I said the first chapter. But you know what would get me motivated? Reviews! I promise that I will write 20 minutes for every review I get longer than two sentences and that does not say the words "update please!" If under two sentences, I will write for ten.

Also, as you may have noticed, summary and title change! I think the new title is better.

Formatting: italics are thoughts/beginning of chapter flashback/emphasis, should be obvious in context. Bold and italics is Intuition. [Inside brackets] remembrance/flashback of death, (parenthesis inside brackets) Tsuna's thoughts on the particular death. Other (parenthesis) side notes. The line breaks vary by the time I wrote the segment under it: -.-.-.- represents like, I dunno, before October last year. -._.- is January and onward of this year 2018, and in between then is -.-_-.- . It's not very important, just thought I'd clear up any potential misunderstanding.

I'm sure that if you're not all that familiar with Katekyo Hitman Reborn and are reading this for the Hunter part, you're pretty bored already. (Why have you stuck around?) ...it doesn't get much better from here. There's about 1k down at the very end of the chapter where Tsuna assesses Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio, but that's the extent of it for now. At least I did some ^^;

Without further ado,

unchangeable, unshakable, unmistakable (roots like trees)

Ch 3

Rest x of x Cast

-.-.-.-

" _I still bet on Kyoko," Ryohei confirmed._

" _Hmm… this time I'll go for Lambo," Takeshi decided, turning to Hayato. "So?"_

 _The Storm scowled at the cheerful, unaffected Rain for a few minutes before conceding. "A hundred and fifty jenny on Hana, Haru, and Kyoko together," he grit out._

 _The group was distracted when Tsuna's arm shot out and he sat up halfway to grip the bomber's arm. "I bet with Hayato," he stated._

-.-.-.-

They fell to slightly distracted chatting, all of them relieved and more than happy to finally be back home where they belonged with the people who knew them best.

-.-.-.-

The guy with blonde hair and a blue bandana tied around his neck showed them into the restaurant. He gave Kyoko a piece of paper.

"So I just read what it says to the chef, and he'll lead us to the Exam?" she blinked innocently up at him.

"Yep," he nodded.

"Okay! Thank you so much for all your help, navigator-san!" she said, twirling around and making her skirt fly up a bit. She grabbed the paper from him, folded it, put it inside her breast pocket, and then leaned up to chastely kiss his temple.

Her eyes became starry as she leaned back and gazed upon him. "I want to be like you someday!"

He blushed a bit and mumbled, before turning to go.

"Oh, and before you leave, I just wanted to let you know," Kyoko continued, "you remind me so much of my brother! So passionate and extreme!"

He stopped and looked back the tiniest bit, but it was enough to see his expression of disappointment and disbelief.

Kyoko remained angelical, with flowers blooming and sparkles in the background around her.

"Brutal," Hana muttered to the brunette with short hair beside her. "Kyoko is the scariest one of us."

"He does, hahi?" Haru questioned, confused, ignoring Hana for the moment. "I mean, I know you wanted to screw with him, but he seems like a lazy bum to me. Still, not as bad as Tsuna-san's father."

"Oh, he is a lazy bum. Extremely lazy. And he's passionate about being a perv. That's why I compared him to my brother: the worst friend-zone possible, it's worse than the actual friend-zone! Once you get trapped in the 'family-zone', you can never escape!" Kyoko chuckled airily. It sounded like a delicate lady's laugh, which amplified the creepy effect so. Dang. Much. Not that Hana cared, she'd seen much worse from the unassuming teen girls at her side. "But he's not like onii-san at all. I'll have to apologize to him later."

She twirled her parasol, took out the paper, and held open the restaurant's door for her companions, who filed in, falling into bubbly teenager girl talk about cake. Or at least Kyoko and Haru did. Hana stared at the chef unnervingly.

Eventually they took pity on him, since he looked about a minute away from either hyperventilating or calling security. This was a very familiar scenario. The only person missing was Ryohei.

Kyoko took the lead and held the paper bandana guy had given her up in front of her chest. She cleared her throat, glanced up at the chef through her thick, lovely eyelashes, and read aloud, "I'll have the steak combo that opens your eyes to the light, for three."

The chef stared at them and looked between them quickly and dubiously. "…how would you like them?" he eventually asked.

Haru read over her friend's shoulder, "Grilled over a low flame until cooked, desu!"

He jerked a little and stared. Flowers started to bloom behind Kyoko and Hana read the signs that showed she was about to turn the smile up a notch.

"Are—are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "Please reconsider. The death risk in this exam is not overexaggerated—"

In an instant, he had three knitting needles from Haru and a parasol tip from Kyoko pointed at his throat. Hana was content to sit back and glower, relishing the beat-down this guy had coming to him.

"We are girls, not dolls," Kyoko started, background aggressively picturesque behind her. Her facial expression didn't change, but it somehow sent a shiver down the unfortunate man's throat.

"We can kick your butt if you want!" Haru narrowed her fierce, glowing eyes at him. He gulped.

"And look beautiful, elegant, and picture-perfect doing it," Kyoko sweetly stated. "So please, chef-san, _you_ reconsider."

Hana stared from the background with a blank face that somehow managed to convey the message "or else."

Kyoko and Haru high-fived.

The chef couldn't scramble to show them the back room fast enough.

"Is this a ploy to stop us?" Haru asked. "It won't work. We are dedicated, desu, and gender can't determine how kickbutt you are!"

The chef quivered and hastened to explain. "No, it's an elevator! It leads down to the exam starting room!"

Hana glanced back at him, a sudden thought occurring to her. "The exam still has a day and a half before it starts."

This statement confounded the downtrodden man, but her companions picked up on her trail of thought.

"That's right, what will we eat?" Haru wondered aloud, turning foreboding eyes on him.

"Would you be so kind, chef-san?" Kyoko asked, beaming now. Hana recognized that she was smug and wanted to poke even more. Sighing, she let her best friend have her fun. It's not like she didn't appreciate people's reactions to Kyoko's moods, either.

The chef dashed off and returned with a laden basket.

Kyoko looked at it for a moment, then up at the man with watery eyes. "Oh, I don't know, that might not be enough," she said mournfully. "But one for each of us should do. Please?"

He folded like wet paper under her puppy dog eyes.

-.-.-.-

"I wish I could do that," Haru sighed. "Did I mention that yet?"

"Yes, multiple times," Hana answered her. "Nobody other than the original can pull it off. The cute not-monkey gets the closest, though."

"Oh, just give it up already!" Kyoko giggled. "Refer to Tsuna-kun as your boss or some variant of his name! Don't deny your feelings deep inside!"

Haru turned towards Hana with startled eyes. "What does she mean, hahi?"

Hana sighed and set about cleaning up the latest misconception in the string of far too many her far more extroverted friend delighted in dropping. "It's nothing like that, Haru. I thought with this much experience with Kyoko you'd be less gullible by now."

Haru eyed her speculatively. "Haru is not convinced. She sees that you have been keeping things bottled up." She gasped. "How much oppressed sexual tension has built up? Oh, Haru feels so sorry for you!"

Hana leveled her with a flat, deadpan stare. "I never thought anyone could match Kyoko in false obliviousness, but I was wrong," she stated.

Haru and Kyoko burst into giggles and intelligible nonsense.

 _I can't believe Haru is a Lightning_ , Hana thought. _At least the world has some justice and Kyoko is a Mist. Go figure how Ryohei is related to her at all, never mind her brother._

"It's been fifteen minutes since he left," Haru frowned. "We didn't terrify him that badly, did we?"

"I don't think so," Kyoko mused. "Maybe someone got impatient and killed him? I should go check."

"That's unlikely," Hana sighed. "And we really don't need to delay any further, Kyoko. Haru, could you please go hurry the chef along without mentally scarring him?"

"As well as Haru can, desu!" she cried, leaping up and out of the door almost instantaneously.

That did not reassure Hana at all. She had spent last lifetime as the Vongola Decimo's personal lawyer and the vast majority of this one worming her friends out of legal situations they'd managed to get themselves into. (Misunderstandings from Ryohei and deliberate loophole-exploiting from Kyoko often turned a little more serious than they planned.) She knew what evasive loophole tactics looked like, and that was one of them. She resisted the urge to rub at her forehead.

-.-.-.-

The teal-haired young man entered the restaurant, face blank. He looked around and noted the three customers, two eating and one waiting, and two chefs, one of which was sautéing mushrooms. The other seemed to be trying to fill the second of two enormous baskets, piled high with meat, fruit, and vegetables. The first had cocoa skin and a bald head. The second had was also bald but he was wearing a chef's hat and uniform, unlike Black Baldy.

He noted the two fire escapes, the windows, and the entrance and exit doors as exits if needed. The three points that could hide an assassin he checked out of the corner of his eye—all clear.

He didn't feel like stating the ridiculous password. He had a better idea. "I want a whole fried buffalo with pineapple and peanut sauce and grasshopper croissants."

Black Baldy said, "Go look for your weird fetishes somewhere else, kid. We don't need no trouble here." Slacker-chan didn't react, stacking the second basket as high as he possibly could like a man possessed. The bored young man brushed against his mind with Mist Flames just to check. Nope. No trace of Flames, but there was that weird other thing that felt almost-sort-of like Flames, called Aura, as far as he knew.

He decided to be blunt. "I want you to take me to the Hunter Exam entrance."

Both chefs whipped around to stare at him*. The one actually doing his job and cooking mushrooms in his pan nearly choked and his eyes bugged out. (He wondered in the back of his head how long it would take the man to die if he just stood there like that. He'd probably catch the mushrooms on fire leaving them unattended first and then burn to death.) The one stuffing the baskets didn't care nearly as much, if he could still sneak food into the almost-full one while staring. That demonstrated considerable spatial awareness and impressive memory.

"Um, okay," Slacker-chan said. "I've got other applicants in the back room. Follow me." Finished with the final basket, he took them up and left to the right hallway. The teal-haired young man saw a girl coming out of the open door. He recognized her.

"Maid number two," he acknowledged, as monotone and bland as ever.

Her eyes lit on him. Her face tensed up. "Froggy-kun," she replied, voice biting and cold.

"I'm so honored," he continued. "Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome back."

Maid number two twitched.

Slacker-chan was surprised that they knew each other, but didn't react. He seemed kind of resigned to the whole situation and like he wanted them gone, not that the young man cared. He wanted to get this exam over with so he could meet the Varia again in this lifetime.

"Here is your food," he handed the heavily laden baskets over to the maid. "Take this one with you too." He flapped his hand towards the teal-haired youth. Maid glanced at him from the corner of her eye, unhappy. He stared back at her impassively.

She moved back in the room and he followed, greeting the others when he saw them. "Maid number one, perpetually irritated woman."

The room was plain with white walls and empty. The entrance was the only exit. Maybe next they had to survive a gassing? This would be an ideal setting.

Kyoko's background lit up passive-aggressively again. "Froggy-kun!" she squealed in grating volumes, tackling him in a constricting hug that was probably supposed to make him want her to stop, but changed nothing. The only sort of leverage she held over him was that one type of squeal, and he never intended for anyone to know it. She couldn't pick it out as champion of the many little revenge moments she'd tried to get on him over time, and he wouldn't react in the future, so he should be safe. Situation analyzed and no longer a threat, he stopped thinking about it.

The perpetually irritated woman voiced, "Fran." Short, blunt. Perpetually irritated woman was less annoying than almost anyone in Vongola, excluding the not-annoying Rains. So Fran didn't bother her much and she didn't bother him. They could even stand close together without fighting. That was more than most of the Vongola/Varia inner-circle was able to say, even if it was meant only mock-seriously. Most of the time.

He went over to stand closer to her and not the annoyances(3). Maid number two set the baskets down on the floor next to another overflowing one and the door suddenly shut. The room started moving downwards, like an elevator.

They were all silent, waiting to reach their destination.

-.-.-.-

Tsuna tried to bolt up as his Intuition churned with mixed impressions all at once that left him confused and dizzy, but it was a mistake. He had to fell down again. Then the elevator opened and his Guardians suddenly understood. Takeshi and Gokudera got up to greet them and bring them over. Tsuna tried to get up too, but Hibari and Ryohei held him down.

"Quit struggling, omnivore," Hibari commanded. "Soon."

"They extremely brought food!" was Ryohei's immediate observation. "That was extremely good of them! I am extremely hungry after all that running!"

 _ **Of course he is,**_ Intuition added in unhelpfully to the cacophony in Tsuna's head. _**You could use some food, too. All these new Flame bonds have tired you out.**_

Suddenly, he was acutely aware of the hunger that had gone unnoticed in his Flame drunkenness. He hummed. "'M too," he stated. The mix of _**sunnylilacscakeclothdistanceoldbooks**_ became sharper as his Family grew closer.

Takeshi and Hayato stood off to the side while the girls put down the full baskets and greeted their Sky. Kyoko [bright shining happiness and laughter, lilacs and cake flashing in his mind before he went down (why did it have to end here, sorry i left you alone without notice i never ever forgot you)] hugged him close and breathed his scent in, Haru tackled him and kissed his cheeks and started ranting about how hard it was to get here, and Hana nodded to him less stiffly than usual. There was more crying. Haru collapsed on top of him and Kyoko collapsed on top of Haru. Then Ryohei joined in and Takeshi followed. Hayato valiantly dived in to try and get his Sky out of the madness but he ended up being pulled under too. Hibari (default) glared at them and very pointedly did not join.

His Flame was cuddly and blazing and longed to wrap around his people, _his_ , who had been unable to be near him for years. His body echoed the sentiment, but he resisted (barely) because he knew that if he started he wouldn't stop and then all but Ryohei and Kyoya would probably suffocate.

His Flame wanted to bonfire around his Bonds for their protection and to show his Claim. It wanted to twine with their connected strands forever, spiralling and sinking into the joyous, triumphant sensation. Instead, he lay there blissfully for a long while, savoring the squabbles that were being tossed around above his head. He breathed in deeply and firmly pushed away the images that congealed on his mind. _They're here, they're not dead. They are so happy to see you, they're arguing again just like it used to be. They're_ here, not dead. _Even Reborn, and he didn't have an obligation to return._

 _ **They're here, not dead,**_ Intuition confirmed, and it wasn't until then that he fully relaxed and let the thought filter through his mind as _truth_ , as _reality_.

Fran appeared sitting on top of the pile just when Tsuna was about to yell for them to _get off, I can't breathe_.

"Look at the delicious prey that I've caught," Fran deadpanned.

"They're not for you," the voice of his male Mist stated lowly. "Get off of Tsunayoshi so that I can greet him properly."

"More like grope him," Hayato grumbled, but he realized that they were slightly suffocating their Sky and had best get off. He ranted about it until everyone got tired of being contrary or saw the truth to what Hayato was so worked up about.

Tsuna finally saw the light as all the wriggling bodies lifted themselves up off of him. He choked down sweet, precious air as he sat up. Then he looked up at Mukuro and his Flame pulled at him to complete the bonding process with a physical link. His mind briefly flashed with images of a fallen/falling Mukuro that he quickly pushed back with the ease of much practice and he _thunk_ ed into Mukuro's hold. His intangible Flames curled around Mukuro's (real, present) body and _snap_ into place went the physical bond.

He responded by wrapping his arms tightly around his Sky, breathing in his scent and finally _feeling_ the petite male's skin, unstained by blood, under his fingertips and reassuring himself for real that his Sky was alright. "Kufufu, Tsunayoshi-kun," he murmured, chuckling into Tsuna's ear. "It is pleasant to see you in person."

Tsuna nodded empathetically, feeling very emotional but proud of himself when no tears came. Mukuro had been hanging around long enough that his death wasn't nearly as sensitive as the others'. Which made sense. He sighed a little, happy, but noticed something off.

"I'm so thankful," he whispered to his male Mist. He knew intuitively that the pineapple knew what the thanks were for. "Chrome-chan, please come out of the shadows. You shouldn't be hiding your beauty away like that. Come, don't be ashamed, let me welcome you."

Chrome indeed stepped out, trident in hand and her one visible eye misty. [empty eye socket bared and bloody, the female Mist fought with all her might, back to Mukuro, trident spinning, illusions whirling around her, one mangled foreleg (oh darling mist i am so so sorry please please retain life you weren't meant to be saved and then die bare years later after such a miracle), wheezing and sweating, and eventually her chest started caving in and even though the fierce, determined glint in her eye never faded, her organs did and that was what did her in in the end, an enemy stabbed that vulnerable place, and she fell fell fell like an angel (i never should have brought you to this place how did you bear it you should have loved a life without me but i'm too selfish), one that never deserved to fall, and she never once gave in] Her eyepatch had the crest of Vongola on it now instead of a skull. "Never ashamed," she proclaimed, staring into his eyes with Will and relief. She approached hesitantly, but Tsuna huffed and reached out for her hand. When he'd gotten a firm grip on it, he tugged until she, Mukuro, and the petite, brown-haired boy were all hugging and being sappy.

The girls and his Guardians had started 'conversations' in the background that all three of them ignored with practiced ease. After their moment, Tsuna turned and surveyed the 'conversations.'

"-missed you all so much!" *glomp*

"Get off me, woman!"

"Don't be like that, desu! Well, I guess you can't help your tsundere instincts."

"I can do whatever - what did you say, woman?!"

"You can argue, but anything you say can and will be used against you. The way you act, your personality, the fact that you play soothing classical piano - it's fact."

*Kyoko nods sagely from beside Hana*

"Che, women. You don't know what you're talking about."

"But you're blushing right now, desu! Haru is always right!"

.

"Haha, I'm glad they're back! It'll be even more interesting with them around."

"Tsunayoshi does tend to attract many 'interesting' people, kufufu. It's a lot of the reason why I haven't killed Tsunayoshi yet and destroyed the mafia - I love dealing with the people who try to get close to him."

*Takeshi sweatdrops* "That excuse doesn't work anymore. Tsuna's not the Neo Vongola Primo this life."

"Kufufu, so he isn't. Well, I had to say something to retain my pride. Not to mention, it makes Chrome seem more harmless compared to me."

"Extreme people are attracted to Tsuna's extreme kindness and power!"

"Kufufu. He is an interesting contradiction. What is it that Kyoya calls him? Omnivore? Hm. I wouldn't say it quite like that, but perhaps the concept is solid."

.

"Well, you obviously won the bet earlier, Hayato, so here's your two hundred Jenny!"

"Thank you _so much_ , I'll survive on this for two whole weeks. You're so dumb, sword idiot. I'll probably lose it anyway before the exam is over."

"But you won the bet, and extreme men keep their extreme words!" Ryohei roared, fire lighting behind him.

"Che, whatever. Do what you want."

.

 _ **Homesafehere**_ , his Intuition chanted sleepily. _It is wonderful,_ he thought back with expressive amber eyes. _It feels so good, finally. They're here._

.

"Oookay! New bet! Who wants to join? Circle up!" Takeshi called with a bright grin. They immediately responded.

"Oh, there's so much to bet about, we have whole lives to catch up on! Come on, onii-san, we can't let them down!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"We extremely won't," Ryohei proclaimed. "We had the most exciting lives!"

"How can you guarantee that?" Hayato asked sharply. "I've done plenty of impressive things!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Hana narrowed her eyes at him.

"Doubting me, woman?! I'll-"

"Settle down, settle down!" Takeshi said, clapping his hand on Hayato's shoulder. "Other people want to bet too!"

"That wasn't about that, sword freak!"

"Hahaha!"

"This is going so well," Fran commented, usual monotone, flat voice fully present. "I feel so enthused about being a part of this bonding activity."

"It sounds interesting," Mukuro smirked, kufufu-ing. "I have plenty of shocking stories to tell."

"No one cares, Mukuro," Gokudera spat, not looking up from where he was trying to choke Takeshi, who was dodging all his efforts and laughing carelessly.

"I'm offended! I've got plenty of people who care about me, such as my darling Chrome and Tsunayoshi."

"Chrome worships you," Hana deadpanned. "Moot point."

"And Tsuna always extremely cares!" Ryohei finished, fist pumping. "It's extremely sad that you haven't got anyone else who will admit they care for you."

"Ken and Chikusa do!" Chrome spoke up, her eye blazing. "They're just not… here right now."

That gave everybody pause for a bit. Nobody liked remembering how empty they'd been without people from their past life, and Ken and Chikusa had been important to Mukuro.

"Either get on with it, silence yourselves, or get bitten to death," Hibari declared, breaking the tension and glaring at them for crowding.

"Come on, let's do it," Tsuna pleaded. "It sounds fun, and we do need to get settled or someone is going to get antsy and explode the area or something."

"Yup!" Kyoko seconded, beaming at Gokudera.

Gokudera would have blushed in any other circumstance, but in this one, it hadn't even crossed his mind to blow the tunnel apart. "We're here with you now, Jyuudaime," he told Tsuna seriously. "I doubt I'll be motivated to do anything like that for a while."

Tsuna mumbled something like, "we'll see how long that lasts," and everyone glanced at each other.

 _Clearly,_ nobody in his new life had properly appreciated their Sky. Well, they'd be more than happy to rectify that mistake, once they had names.

Kyoko clapped her hands, and everybody masked their slight killing intent as fast as possible. "Let's do this!" she chirped brightly, and they spent the next ten minutes forming a circle.

When it was finally completed, Tsuna spoke up from where he'd been fidgeting for the past few minutes. "Wait," he urged timidly. "It doesn't feel right yet. Let's wait until everyone gets here."

"What do you suggest we do then, Tsuna-san?" Haru asked.

Tsuna's eyes widened and he blushed a little at being put on the spot. "U-um, I don't know?"

"I'm sure we can think of something," Reborn's darkly amused tone came from a spot in the circle he'd nabbed himself, and more than a few people started ever so slightly when they realized he was there. Tsuna almost "hieee"d, but at Reborn's knowing, anticipatory glance, he swallowed it back down. "What about Russian Roulette?"

"Only you think that's an appropriate reunion activity, Reborn," Tsuna muttered, rubbing at his face. Reborn's smirk widened.

"It's tradition in the most powerful Russian families," Reborn argued. He was arguing for the sake of arguing and annoying Tsuna, and everyone knew it.

"I'd rather not end up with anyone maimed this early into our lives, thanks," Tsuna told his tutor.

"Awww," Reborn intoned. His words did not match the very amused tone he was using. "I'm disappointed in you. All this training, and you never learned to embrace tradition?"

"They were not actual traditions, Reborn," Tsuna bantered back, getting fondly frustrated at the nostalgic activity.

"To be fair, some of them were pretty far out there," Takeshi agreed. Tsuna nodded. "But fun!" he continued, and Tsuna sweatdropped.

"Vongola traditions were always so extravagant and beautiful!" Haru reminisced, with stars in her eyes. "It's too bad Tsuna-san chose not to follow some of the more obscure traditions and days."

"There was no need to," Tsuna grumbled. "Unnecessary paperwork."

"Jyuudaime knew when traditions needed to happen and executed them just fine," Hayato chipped in, throwing a look at the woman. "Keep doing well, Jyuudaime!"

"Thanks, Hayato," Tsuna smiled. "Although I dunno, the second Winter Vongola Formal Ball we hosted was kind of a disaster."

"It was extremely infiltrated by a Famiglia who thought we didn't take Tsuna's security extremely seriously," Ryohei remembered with a stern, disapproving expression.

"But they learned," Chrome added.

"My Chrome taught them well," Mukuro praised, hands running through her hair as Chrome hummed in contentment.

"They learned not to cause disorder at Vongola events, which were already full of herbivorous, needless crowding," Hibari observed from his place about ten feet away from the circle, leaning against the wall.

"Yes," Tsuna recalled. "Also, the damage was atrocious. The whole West Wing, not even just the ballroom, needed to be rebuilt. And there was _so much_ _ **paperwork**_." Tsuna's face scrunched up in adorable annoyance and undeniable hatred toward his eternal enemy.

"To be fair," Chrome contributed timidly, "they did try to assassinate you, Bossu." The Element's faces around the circle went blank.

"Yeah, no one can get away with that," Takeshi laughed, a definite edge to it.

"How about we not talk about that right now," Tsuna suggested carefully, feeling a breakdown coming on. Death was not his favorite topic, and he suspected it was much the same with the others.

"Probably a good idea," Hayato agreed. "Honestly though, the mansion was so huge. It was no wonder that you kept having to constantly renovate and rebuild parts of it. There was just _so much_ to destroy."

"Kufufu, you make a good point, puppy," Mukuro said. "It was just too perfect. I couldn't live without something being corrupted, since Tsunayoshi refused all my advances."

"Puppy?!" Gokudera repeated, more out of necessity than actual hurt pride. It had gotten old.

Tsuna facepalmed, and Reborn's smirk turned into a grin as he contained his laughter. "Stoooop, Mukuro," Tsuna whined, face completely red.

Mukuro had been making inadvertent (or not so much) innuendoes for _years_ before Tsuna caught on, and the first time he had a near-meltdown Mukuro ruthlessly extracted what the Decimo had thought of, before it clicked. Mukuro hadn't intended it that way (nearly everything he said had _some_ kind of hidden innuendo behind it, be it sexual or not), but his Sky looked so adorable and uncomfortable. Mukuro still hadn't let it go, and Tsuna knew him. He never would.

"Everyone's, actually," Kyoko mused brightly in that airy, mischievous Mist tone of voice. "Proposals and desperate offers, and Tsuna-kun just thought everyone was catching the same kind of weird his Guardians had. He broke so many hearts."

"He never was a real man that way," Reborn snatched the opportunity to say something embarrassing. "I don't think he ever even actually kissed anyone."

"That's-that's not true!" Tsuna stuttered. "Mama kissed me on the cheek all the time, and so did Kyoko-chan, Chrome-chan, and Haru-chan! And sometimes Mukuro and Hayato on the lips, but it was fine! It's not a big deal!"

Reborn raised an incredulous eyebrow and many people turned to the Guardians mentioned.

"It's not a big deal, he says," Fran echoed into the silence.

"What was that I heard about someone kissing Tsuna?" Takeshi stated, a little too loudly and passive-aggressively.

"He's my otouto! Nobody gets to take his innocence!" Ryohei roared, and it kinda degenerated from there.

"A kiss is not corruption-inducing, heathen," Mukuro explained, silky-smooth, dodging multiple weapons. "I tried, believe me, I did, but there was no hope for it. Tsunayoshi just doesn't appreciate my dashingly beautiful looks."

"Very beautiful," Fran deadpanned as his pineapple hat was stabbed. "Just a delicate porcelain flower."

Tsuna sat back and watched exasperatedly, and every so often Reborn would just kinda peek out of the occupied, fighting Elements and smirk at Tsuna. He shook his head and took advantage of the time he got to go over to Kyoya and cuddle. After he went pleasantly braindead for a while, then he'd surface to deescalate the situation.

(Beans tried several times to shout them down to order, but it never worked. He would've needed Tsuna's Sky Flames to even be noticed.)

-.-.-.-

Eventually, of course, they settled down. And if there was judicious use of Rain Flames involved, no one said anything. After the Second Great Dining Room Incident, Tsuna had decreed that Takeshi had the right to freely use his Soft Flames to drowse everyone if a spar or friendly fight had either continued for more than twenty-five minutes or destroyed more than two rooms. No one had argued in the face of ticked-off HDWM Tsuna (except maybe Reborn, and that was just from habit. Tsuna shut him down soon enough). When Takeshi wasn't there, Tsuna had to drug them on Sky Flames and nobody liked that. Well, they liked the feel of it while it happened, but their defenses were left down and weak until it wore off, which was much later after the feely-good Flames left. They usually stuck with Takeshi.

Everyone just kinda laid down and rested for a minute, drinking in the reality of their reunion.

Soon enough they were back to bantering/fighting/laughing/individual activities, all of them relaxed and a little bit feely.

-._.-

 _ **oceansweatfuschialoudgrapeozone**_ rung in his head, and Tsuna stretched from where he was draped over Mukuro, having pleaded the Mist into ignoring Kyoya and snuggling with the tired Sky. Now that the Mist wasn't heckling him anymore, Kyoya was free to lean against the wall, soak in the experience of being back with the Vongola family, and survey his temporary territory.

Tsuna spied Hayato and Takeshi doing that flirting-but-not-flirting thing from the corner of his eyes and then the elevator was open and Lambo was here! Skull was too, but Lambo was here! His Lightning, his little brother, his Guardian, his family!

Lambo ran straight towards him and they met in the middle of the path that was cleared for the rampaging applicants. Despite the Lightning only being two years younger than the Sky in this life, habits are hard to break, and Tsuna scooped the Bovino up into his arms and twirled the former cow child.

"Tsuna-nii!" he exclaimed happily, with tears in his eyes. "Tsuna-nii! I found you! The great - the great Lambo-san found you!"

Tsuna nodded into the child's thick, curly hair as another bond snapped into place and they both sighed in satisfaction. "You did," he readily agreed in a choked-up voice. "But Mukuro found you first." He couldn't resist the opportunity to tease, and Lambo smacked him weakly on the head for his trouble.

"Should we go to the rest of them?" Skull broke in after letting them savor the reunion for a few moments, shifting a bit and tapping his fingers against the seat of his motorbike. "A lot of people are watching you, and I'm sure we'd be a bit… safer in the corner."

Tsuna took a deep breath and nodded, struggling to walk and carry the child and plan his path at the same time. He could see Skull's slight shake of the head and bemused smile.

"Can I help?" the Cloud asked, hovering carefully. It wouldn't be good to accidentally anger the vulnerable, emotional Sky - who knew what damage any defensive measure they might perform would do.

"Yeah," Tsuna replied, a bit dazed and preoccupied, but nevertheless grateful for the offer of help. Only then did Skull take the brunet and support him to the corner with the telltale noise pollution that the tenth generation of Vongola couldn't stop generating to save their lives.

-._.-

Skull passed Tsuna off to Kyoya, a calculated move to save whatever he could save of his skin before he was inevitably bitten to death. Surprisingly, the other Cloud nodded to him with a pretty low amount of killing intent in his eyes, and Skull got off scot-free and very grateful (for touching a Classic Cloud's newly-bonded (again) Sky, which was really nice and unexpected, not gonna lie). He guessed some people did have a relatively fair bone in their body.

The stuntman would have commented on it, but he wisely figured that it would be best not to press his luck just yet. No bets on once he saw Reborn though.

He smiled brilliantly (obnoxiously) and rolled his bike to lean against the wall.

-._.-

Tsuna carried Lambo to a little piece of wall that various Family members hovered around but didn't get too close to. The Lightning was already a young teen, but not yet fifteen as he had been. Just small enough for Tsuna to be able to hold him comfortably in a way that hadn't been possible for a while.

Most of their reunion was snuggling. At some point, Lambo pulled out two grenades, a railroad spike, and a little bit of grape candy. He held them up and babbled about what he'd done with weapons like them so far, and Tsuna listened indulgently, participating fully and concentrating his attention, which meant more to the Lightning than the Sky might ever know.

Eventually they settled down to curling around each other again, and Takeshi approached them after a bit, laughing and greeting Lambo himself.

-.-.-.-

Byakuran flapped his wings and hummed as Sho-chan screamed.

"Put me down now, please!" he pleaded cutely.

"Nope, not yet, Sho-chan~" the Mare Sky holder denied. "We're almost there. Keep holding onto the package! Just a few more… yep! There we are!"

He joined in his friend's screaming as he dived sharply, pulling his wings tight to his torso, despite his yell being more like cheering and Sho-chan's being more absolutely terrified.

"It would be a lot of hassle to do it any other way," Byakuran explained as he skipped past the red-haired teen, grabbing his wrist and pulling him into the restaurant. He waved lazily at the cooks as he bypassed them and let himself into the elevator at the back, smiling.

"You still have the package, right, Sho-chan?" Byakuran asked.

"Yes, but you're not getting any marshmallows right now," Sho-chan replied, sounding awfully tired.

"Yeah, I know," he returned. "Just wanted to confirm."

"Mhmm," Sho-chan hummed, glancing at him through slanted eyes. That meanie, not believing him! The white-haired teen pouted for a bit before brightening up.

"We're going to see Tsu-chan!" he cheered. "Yay!"

"Yay," Sho-chan echoed, and though he didn't sound quite as enthused as Byakuran, his face lit up and the marshmallow lover could tell it was genuine.

"We're off to see the Tainted Saint," he sang, "the strongest Sky of all! We hear he is the purest of Skies, if ever a Sky there was, if ever, oh, ever, a Sky there was! The Purest of Skies is one because, because, because, because, because, because, because of the brokennest strays he adopts! We're off to see Vongola Dec, the astonishing All-Encompassing Sky…"

Byakuran pointedly ignored the whimpers and thuds he heard next to him. Sho-chan should join him instead of being mopey! The farther they descended, the stronger Tsu-chan's familiar Flames were becoming! He couldn't wait to hug his adorable Tsu-chan again!

-.-.-.-

This time Tsuna heard echoes of _**sugarorchidpower waterfallmossgenius**_ and smiled into Lambo's hair (he was still wrapped around the little cow child, breathing in his little brother's scent). _More of mine are coming home to my Sky_ , he thought. _It's… this is amazing. Oh, I'm so grateful._

Sure enough, as soon as the elevator stop stopped, out climbed Byakuran Gesso and Irie Shōichi. Byakuran was humming "We're off to see the wizard," which probably had something to do with Irie's general aura of 'done.'

Byakuran danced over to the box of tags and plucked two from midair, nodding towards whoever was covering themselves in Mist Flames. Tsuna recognized the Flames as Kawahira-san's.

The Mare Sky, and the genius dragged along with him, skipped over to where Tsuna and his gathered Elements were stationed, Flames expanding and contracting in a swirl around his body. They rose to meet Tsuna's Sky, and the Flames skirted each other, prodding, before recognition hit them and they joyously pounced. The area was saturated with frolicking, celebrating Sky Flames.

Tsuna barely had enough presence of mind to blush a bit when he noticed his restraint had finally snapped. And he'd worked so hard in the case another Sky wandered in! Oh well… he couldn't change it now. His Flames were ecstatic at being let free to roam and so many returning bonds.

The others got Flame-drunk, but they couldn't complain. After all, they'd missed having a Home to return to properly saturated with their Sky's Flames.

"Nice to see you again, brother," Tsuna whispered into the Mare Sky's shoulder as they embraced.

Byakuran smiled crookedly and answered, "I missed you."

Tsuna nuzzled the shoulder a bit more and then turned to embrace Shoichi in turn.

"H-hi," the genius managed to say, a little overwhelmed.

Tsuna laughed and invited them to sit with him.

-._.-

Some indeterminate time later, two meals had been partaken of and positions had shuffled around. Haru and Kyoko and Ryohei meandered up to Tsuna and formed a loose semicircle around him. Looking past them, the former Vongola Decimo could see Hana, Fran, Hayato, Skull, Irie, and Mukuro conversing heatedly in a corner. Reborn and Kyoya leaned against the same stretch of wall. _Looks like the family's all adjusting well so far._ Tsuna leaned back against his nest of Byakuran, Chrome, and Takeshi and ruffled Lambo's hair.

"What do you think will be the first phase? How long do you think it will last?" Haru chattered as soon as she sat down, stemming the flow of her questions with a small, remorseless grin at Tsuna and Kyoko's fond but exasperated glances.

"No clue," Tsuna pronounced, pushing back the whisperings of his intuition and pouting slightly at the incredulous glances shot his way (and trying not to feel the pulse of amusement from Intuition). "It's more fun to leave some things mysterious, okay?" he refuted their silent skepticism.

Kyoko, Lambo, and Byakuran smirked. "Of course!" Takeshi laughed, and Haru and Chrome echoed his laughter. Ryohei fist-pumped and shouted, "I EXTREMELY UNDERSTAND!" He was met with the people in a twenty-foot radius around him covering their ears and shooting him death glances. Scratch that, it was pretty much everyone in the room.

"Sorry!" he apologized only a little quieter, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He turned back to Tsuna and all the regret evaporated. Hana rose and approached to cuff her former husband in the back of the head. (Tsuna remembered just how well Lal and Hana had gotten along in their last life and shivered just a bit.) This resulted in the energetic Sun smiling at her radiantly and pulling her down for a kiss which she returned but broke off soon enough.

"Not now," she chided him with her pointer finger. Ryohei cranked up the sunniness of his smile another few notches and Tsuna knew his family well enough to guess (well, he didn't have to guess, since his intuition confirmed it, but that's beside the point) that things would have eventually dissolved into a full-on Vongola brawl if Haru hadn't interrupted right then with, "So Hana, have you got any guesses about what the first phase of the exam will be?"

 _Bless your soul, Haru,_ Tsuna thought. _Next time I have to punish everyone for a fight and property destruction, I'll pardon you_.

Her concentration broken, she ceased eye contact with her former (and soon-to-be-again, Tsuna suspected) husband and instead looked at the Vongola Sky piercingly. "Sawada doesn't know?" she asked sharply.

Kyoko shrugged and replied, "He doesn't want to use his all-powerful cheat tool. Apparently some things are better 'mysterious,'" she quoted, smirking again.

The Mist's best friend snorted. "More fun to guess, hm, Sawada?" she asked. "Well, alright then. If I'm right," - and her voice held just how likely she thought the alternative was - "each phase is meant to cut the number of applicants in half. What would you do if you wanted to eliminate half of your contenders?"

Takeshi and Ryohei hummed and said, "Stamina!" at the exact same time as Byakuran and Kyoko responded, "Put them out of commision." (Tsuna couldn't quite prevent himself from rubbing at his face.)

Hana glanced scathingly at Kyoko. "Think about it," she advised.

Kyoko and Byakuran smirked at each other. "Just because the examiners probably wouldn't do it doesn't mean we wouldn't," he pointed out.

"Or that examiners _couldn't_ ," Chrome chimed in. "The official rules are pretty… scarce."

"Don't need another person supporting them, honey," Tsuna mumbled to the Mist, far too used to her taking the more chaotic and morally dubious side of arguments despite her polite nature. True to form, she offered him an unrepentant, unfailingly polite smile.

"Stamina is what I deduced," Hana announced abruptly with a well-intentioned but still annoyed eye-roll, then left to continue her conversation from before.

-._.-

Soon enough, two or three meal times had passed, evident by the food dropped off, and several naps had been taken by everyone, when Tsuna decided they all needed to actually sleep.

"Only one more day left to wait," he informed them, shooing Irie and Hana into the corner where all four Mists were already settled down before pushing Byakuran in the space too.

"Why is this necessary?" Fran asked.

"Hopeful people from all over the world are attempting to make it just to the _starting line_ of the Hunter Exam. It takes a long time to round up that many people from all over the world and cut a significant portion of them out, no matter how you look at it. Plus, each person hired by the Exam Committee to weed out the weak before even arriving has free rein on how to go about that task. Some naturally take longer than others. And I thought you had critical thinking skills," Hayato sniffed, fortunately exiting lecture mode quickly.

"He meant why I'm forcing everyone to get rest, but that's also a very good explanation, Hayato," Tsuna gently pointed out, laying a comforting hand on his right-hand man's arm as the Storm blushed in slight embarrassment at his misunderstanding. "I just want everyone to be well rested and in top condition, Fran. We'll need it."

No one really protested after that, although as to whether it was because of that explanation, sneaky use of Sky Flames, or the casually threatening glint in Tsuna's eyes/Reborn and Kyoya's posture, no one knew.

Reborn was left to stand guard in silent agreement passed between the glances of himself and Tsuna.

-._.-

Hanzo stared in disbelief at the little gathering in the corner. Most of them felt strong and the guy on watch right now while the rest of them slept was submerged in shadow. Just enough of him was visible that it was a warning. However, he was picking up no chi at all, which was… very worrying. From this distance, it normally wouldn't bother him that much - but he'd gotten closer and done a cursory round, and there was absolutely nothing. He'd only felt that once before.

Still, that wasn't what inspired so much disquiet in him. It was the fact that the Ace Assassin was living and breathing the camaraderie of this group like he'd always belonged there, like there was a special, designated spot for him to return to.

But that _had_ to be a lie, because Yamato was the clan's best assassin and he'd been born and raised in the Clan, just like Hanzo himself. There was no way he knew these people that acted so radically different from the Clan. And yet… there could be no other possibility. Their interactions were too seamless and genuine.

He should confront his fellow ninja on this matter, but he had to think it through. On one hand, clan loyalty and principles. On the other, mentally unsound assassin ace after him.

Hanzo wisely quit before he was ahead.

-._.-

The guard changed out a few times - only because Tsuna insisted Reborn rest - but nobody had the heart to wake the Sky before he naturally awoke. Unfortunately, that natural awakening was caused by Vongola-level noise and banter, but it was a good thing, because Tsuna couldn't doubt whether all the happiness he remembered was real or a dream.

Once he made signs of wanting to get up (read: forcing a release by multiple elbow jabs to the stomach), Hayato pushed Takeshi away and rolled over into the free space, letting the Vongola Decimo stand. He greeted the people already up (the girls, Skull, Byakuran, Ryohei, Fran, Mukuro, Kyoya) and looked around for breakfast. Haru saw where he was looking and presented him with an orange. By this point, several meals had passed and considering how many people they had to feed, Tsuna wasn't surprised at how big the dent in the food they had was. In fact, he was more surprised they even had any left.

Tsuna caught Haru's eye and glanced pointedly at Skull. Haru shook her head a bit, but a considering gleam came into her eye and Tsuna counted it as a hint well placed. He was sure they'd be fine in regards to food for at least another little while.

The more food was propagated, the more its nutritional value wore down. But it would still be fine for a while.

Luckily, he saw that only

Skull, Byakuran, and Ryohei looked legitimately awake. Then he had a realization and sent a quick (probably futile) prayer up to heaven that even without coffee everyone would be moderately well behaved.

Ryohei waved and drew Tsuna into the conversation he had going on with Skull. The Sky smiled and listened happily to their conversation about protective gear and the pros and cons thereof.

-.-.-.-

It was approaching close to the exam start time - Tsuna could feel it - when a Sky finally arrived.

Skies were rare, one in over a million, but this exam weeded out all but the best of the best, so he wasn't too surprised when one finally showed up. From what Tsuna could feel of their Flames, the new arrival had a lot of potential in both combat and Flames (and, from what Tsuna could feel, maturity/personality growth). Their Flames were pretty pure already, and on the higher end of the reserve scale.

The Sky was… Sunny, too. That was a lot of Sun. That could end up being either very good or very bad. Sunny Skies tended to be very focused on a goal like regular Suns, and that sometimes blocked out empathy, although in no way was Sky Attraction halted. Which led to consequences and other messy things.

(Tsuna was very glad that Reborn was not a Sunny Sky. That would have been a disaster and a half.)

Tsuna's Flames wanted to feel up the new Sky's Flames, but he refrained. Knowing how his Sky tended to react to another Sky near newly-bonded Elements, he winced. Reborn noticed a few moments later and glanced sharply over at Tsuna, who nodded and shrugged a bit. Byakuran just slid a questioning, slightly hungry anticipatory expression at Tsuna and he responded the same way he had to Reborn. Then the Sun and Mare Sky looked at each other and away, content to wait.

Nobody else noticed, and they wouldn't unless the Latent Element turned Active. Which he just might, if this exam's reputation for danger turned out to be true…

Tsuna finally let his gaze be drawn towards the new Sky and their companions. Male and very young were the first qualities that he found as he soaked in the Sky.

For now, the smart decision would be to stay away from the Sky, at least until his own Flames settled, if only a bit more. But that didn't mean Tsuna couldn't look at the boy and his companions, or that he couldn't try and befriend the Sunny Sky later. The boy was interesting and optimistic with a lot of potential, someone Tsuna would like. _**Loyal and determined**_ , his Intuition whispered. He was… not used to fighting. Very open and trusting. But… it might not be as bad as it looked, considering he was a Sky. Then again, dangerous, possibly fatal exam ahead, and he didn't appear to have taken preparation very seriously… although he did bring a fishing rod, Tsuna noted with some amusement. Tsuna turned to surmise one of the boy's companions.

The blond was androgynous with delicate features and a trained fighter's honed instincts and awareness of their surroundings. _**Male**_ , Intuition whispered, and Tsuna looked closer and nodded. Tsuna also saw subtle signs of deep sorrow and burning… determination? - that didn't seem like quite the right word, and wasn't that an interesting shade of meaning - in his frame. Tsuna wanted to pry just a bit more but he wasn't that rude and anyway he had a feeling that further discoveries of importance needed to be made up close and personal, perhaps with a bit of small get-to-know-you talk.

The other, dark-haired man with small glasses looked older than the two before him put together. He was also dressed more sharply. His stance was way more open than it should be, and he definitely did not have the developed instincts of the blond. A briefcase was all the luggage he carried, but that was smart. Light but prepared. The former mafia boss approved. Somehow, as he watched the man shift slightly nervously, Tsuna was reminded of a cross between Ryohei and Hayato.

Smiling, he leaned back against his nest of Byakuran, Chrome, and Takeshi and ruffled Lambo's hair. The Bovino smiled up at him from his place in Tsuna's lap a bit cheekily and the Sky chuckled. He then slid his gaze back over to the trio of newcomers and and hummed thoughtfully, contentedly. Subtly, Tsuna let out tendrils of Harmony into the room and grinned as everyone relaxed slightly and conversations lost some of their hard, competitive edge.

Gradually, the tendrils made their way across the room to the trio. Along the way, he sensed two powerful Latent Mists, one powerful Latent Rain, and a slightly dimmer Lightning. Now that he wasn't searching for just Skies, he could tell that pretty much everyone gathered had stronger than average Flames. Not too surprising.

As his Flames brushed against the Sunny Sky's, Tsuna's previous impressions were only amplified. Although Tsuna's first reaction was to hum at their warmth and compatibility with his, very soon Hostile Flames Against New Threatening Sky Instincts™ kicked in and he had to move on before something accidentally happened.

The dark-haired man was a very welcoming Sun. Tsuna had about the same reaction to this Element as the young Sky, but he felt traces of the Sky on the Sun and backed off. Tsuna didn't necessarily need any more Elements, though that Sun would be nice... but no, he didn't need more new bonds at the moment. _Best to move on_. _Really don't need to be that selfish and drag someone in without their consent._

The blond was an Inverted Storm with a very clear Will and Resolve that translated to high purity. He was also being courted by the Sunny Sky. Something in his Flames didn't click quite as well with Tsuna as the last two, and so the Vongola Sky stopped his (risky, ill-advised) exploration and turned away, satisfied.

-._.-

All that information was fairly murky, of course, since he was feeling past the "membrane" that kept Flames in a tight little ball around chest area until Activation. Typically, only strong Skies could do this sort of thing. Luckily, Tsuna matched that criteria.

He curled up and dove into his Flames again, basking in all the returned bonds and the new vibrant edge in them. They really had been despondent.

Something pulled at his conscious and his intuition nudged him sharply to emerge. Tsuna did so curiously. Did something happen with one of the more… dangerous people gathered? (There were far too many capable people in this enclosed space. So far the truly hazardous applicants had been content to sit back and watch their prey like a full lion who was only waiting till it was properly hungry again. However, Tsuna knew from experience that that couldn't last forever. _Far, far too much experience_ , he groaned in his head.)

It turned out that two things had happened - one: judging by the guy now missing an arm and crying very heavily through shock (Tsuna winced in pity), one of the dangerous applicants had gone off, and two: the first examiner had arrived with a very loud, irritating alarm.

 _Kyoko's going to want one of those_ , was the first thing Tsuna thought. _I don't feel like doing damage control for that._ He mentally sighed and resigned himself to doing it anyway.

A split-second later and he realized that the bell must have been the exam start signal. He managed to spare a few mental cries of anguish for the chaotic life and family he had and panic over the test at the same time, a truly remarkable feat. He listened with rapt attention as the examiner explained.

"I apologize for the wait. The entry period for the Hunter Exam applicants has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!" he announced.

Needless to say, everyone perked up.

-._.-

Omake: ooc Hisoka reaction as he steps off the elevator and surveys the Vongola

Hisoka: what have we here?

Hisoka: wow, they like to fight. Maybe there are some good fruits? They seem strong…

Hisoka: are they stopping yet? No?

Hisoka: aren't they tired of this yet?

Hisoka: okay, this is getting a lil bit repetitive and boring

Hisoka: wth

Hisoka: how long can they keep fighting, this is absolute _chaos_

Hisoka:

Hisoka: *stare*

Hisoka: I'll wait until the exam, when I can get a better gauge on them

-._.-

Actual Hisoka reaction:

Hisoka: ooooh

Hisoka: yes, I will go in a corner and watch this wonderful fight play out. This will be extremely entertaining.

-.-.-.-

A/N: And there you have it!

This chapter is fluff, fluff, and more fluff. I hope I satisfied your reunion feels needs. I know I did mine :)

I love my girls. I'm sad they didn't get more of a role in canon. But I'm perfectly happy to give them a good one here! Also, do you know how hard it is to balance so many characters?! Let me know if I did a good job or not. I don't know how the other khr writers do it. On the other hand, I think I can now do it.

I'm not going to extend this a/n longer than needed, shockingly. I have some extra stuff to post that should be exciting. The length of this chapter and the extras are my apologies for staying away for so long.

And I repeat: I promise that I will write 20 minutes for every review I get longer than two sentences and that does not say the words "update please!" If under two sentences, I will write for ten.

I also have an ao3 under loosecloudymist_OperaEagleAce that has a different set of stories than the one on ffnet. There's a freeverse about Giotto's life. And soon my entries for KHR rarepair week in the beginning of June will be posted there. I'm so excited!

I hope to see you back here in uuu(rlt) the next update! After the next 'chapter' which is a bonus, so go check that out!

~OperaEagle IcelynLacelett

-._.-

Posted 20 May 2018


	4. Bonus Omakes!

Be proud! You've earned yourself a bonus chapter for waiting so long for me!

Also, this is the second of two updates! The previous chapter is the real chapter, this is just omakes + badge numbers. :)

-._.-

Badge Numbers

(This will be the only place I post this, so refer back to it if you're confused or curious. Most of them correspond to character numbers anyway.)

Gokudera Hayato: 59

Yamamoto Takeshi: 80

Bovino Lambo: 146 (this one is just. a random number.)

Dokuro Chrome: 96

Sasagawa Ryohei: 33

Rokudo Mukuro: 69

Hibari Kyoya: 18

Sawada Tsunayoshi: 27

Reborn: 1

Skull: 22 (the number of bones in a skull. I thought it was clever.)

Kurokawa Hana: 87

Sasagawa Kyoko: 95

Miura Haru: 86

Byakuran: 100

Irie Shoichi: 51

Fran: 666

-._.-

Flames of hxh charas:

Gon - Sunny Sky

Leorio - Sun

Killua - Electric Cloud

Kurapika - Polarized Storm

-._.-

Omake: Badge Numbers

Beans had handed out badges every year since he was appointed the secretary by Chairman Netero, and he took it as time to analyze applicants, potential hunters. Last year had been pretty disappointing, with scary Hisoka frightening/maiming everyone, but he was sure that this year would be better! It had to be.

There had been very… interesting applicants this time though, he had to say. And it was as if some force was guiding him to give out numbers out of order, for some reason. Sometimes he'd grab the wrong ones, sometimes he'd blink and then there would be people stepping out of the elevator and grabbing badges with the wrong numbers, and sometimes they would breeze past him and pick up the wrong number without his permission. What was with these people? He wanted to cry, or at least throw a minor fit, but he held himself back. It was painful though, he had a _system_ and minor OCD and this was screwing with his head.

 _Oh, 59 is coming_! Someone behind him said, and he whirled around to see nothing there but suspiciously shimmery (and slightly blue…?) air. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He reassured himself that no one was there, and everything was fine.

He blinked, the elevator opened, and somehow he found himself handing the badge 59 to the fourty-second applicant, who possessed silver hair. (Yes, he'd counted.)

Beans gave up and banged his head against the wall.

-._.-

Yamamoto, after realizing he's been born again, has the obligatory my-friends-are-dying freakout and then realizes (much later) that he was born to a ninja clan and that. yeah. This is legit a dream come true.

Like, they have secret sword-making techniques, and use kunai, and climb up trees, and are totally silent except for the awesome sound effects in battle. And he can literally master a ninja sword style.

The look on his face as he realizes that is the "oooOOOH YES SUCH A GOOD IDEA" one that Gokudera named. And then promptly smacked him on the back of the head and yelled loudly in his ear that it was NOT A GOOD IDEA. WOULD YOU TURN YOUR BRAIN OFF BEFORE YOU GET US ALL KILLED. So he makes it his goal to be, like, the best ninja ever, and masters the sword style in record time. And "invents" the Shigure Shouen Ryu.

(and in the back of his mind he's just cackling "hahaha wait until I tell Squalo. He's going to try to kill me for years, but it will be worth it. Sooo worth it.")

He trains hard and is put in an elite squad, not to mention sent out to do missions on his own and has a success rate of like 90%. (Because some people he just can't kill or steal from. They remind him waaay too much of his former family.) Everyone is just bewildered how he can be so happy-go-lucky when he has just about the bloodiest record alive in the clan and every time he wants to say "my Sky" but has to hold himself back and he's like, "it's useless to think about negative, pointless things." and laughs. Nobody sees how his eyes dim a little and he dies a little inside every time. And eventually it reaches a point to where he's legitimately suicidal with no one around him seeing and even trying and he's been holding onto this hope for so long but it's really gone now. But every time he closes his eyes he sees Tsuna and his family and he can't for the life of him commit suicide.

The only thing that brightens his day up is getting reactions out of people with his airheaded attitude. It makes him laugh every time (and also cry a bit inside because some of their reactions are really close to Gokudera territory).

Another ninja clan is getting really close to their borders, so they send Takeshi out on an infiltration mission. He arrives half-dead after training for forever and he breaks his sword on the edges of their territory. They find and rescue him and he makes up a story about being thrown out and betrayed by his clan and wanting revenge at any cost so he joins them.

And then Takeshi just has a lot of fun playing the clans off each other (he hasn't really gotten attached to his clan, his family will always be Vongola). His former clan has no idea why the second clan knows their secret techniques and weaknesses, and the second clan has no idea where their food and weapons keep going. He manages to play the innocent, blameless I'm-trying-so-hard guy /perfectly/. But at the same time, even though he's not gonna commit suicide, it's not like he's attached to this life either. So he's really reckless and almost-suicidal in battle, the way Gokudera used to be.

Hanzo is a part of his former clan, and he grows up in awe at Takeshi. Like a role model. But he's also kinda scared, because he's seen Takeshi murder people invading with a smile on his face.

Eventually Takeshi gets bored with the infiltration and playing ninja and killing people for missions. He's about to just up and leave when Mukuro arrives with news of the Hunter Exam.

And Takeshi trains like never before. He doesn't want to end up behind all the others, he wants to impress Tsuna, he has to kill time before he can see his family. Primo, he misses them so much.

-.-_-.-,

Xanxus and the Varia aren't full-time assassins this time (they still go out on jobs occasionally) but they do own the world's largest, most profitable underground fighting ring. (Aboveground being Heaven's Arena.) And they fight in it as a treat for the audience, occasionally. By no means are they rusty.

Fran isn't there - they can't find him until the Hunter Exam/Tsuna brings him back to them - but Mammon is there. She was born as the extra heir for a mafia family but ran away, resenting the restrictions on her Cloudy nature, and made a name for herself as Viper the information broker. She does that in addition to managing the money and bets in the ring.

-._.-

Fran is born the son of two Zoldyck butlers and he's an odd one right off the bat. Mysterious, deadpan, sociopathic, a very quick learner. Nobody needs to teach him how to kill, to tuck away natural empathy. He has a quiet intelligence in his eyes and picks up Japanese a year and a half into life, very early. Odd things happen around him and he's very quick to insult, but he's skilled and the head Zoldyck butlers and Zeno don't want to get rid of him.

He doesn't have any friends, but he stares at people and the walls a lot. He disappears into the forest for long stretches at a time and as long as he doesn't come back dead they don't ask questions (despite the fact he's always atrociously messy. Somehow he always manages to get that messy in regular training for no discernable reason), they don't try to keep an iron hold on him like they do on all the others. For some reason they don't even think about it. He might just vanish like mist if they tried to box him up.

And then one day he turns fifteen and the next week he finally vanishes. No one is surprised.

(Headcanon: Mists are much more like Clouds than they'd admit.)

-._.-

Omake 2

Something that definitely happened sometime during the exam, somewhere:

Tapping the shoulder of the cheery swordsman of the group, Hisoka smiled. Takeshi turned around with a confused expression and waited for the clown to say something.

"How good are you with that weapon?" he finally asked, pointing to the katana on the Rain's back.

"Hmm?" Takeshi considered. "Pretty good, I hope. I wouldn't be any good as a left hand if I couldn't protect my family, after all!" His hand came up to rub the back of his neck as he laughed.

Hisoka just stared at him, hawk-eyed, for long moments before asking another question. "Would you consider showing me sometime?"

Takeshi showed no sign of the usual discomfort from being asked strange questions by an odd, dangerous man. "Ah? Sure, if you want to, I guess!"

Suddenly Tsuna, ex-mafia boss, appeared between them, slightly out of breath, and he straightened his impeccable tie. "What's going on?" he questioned pleasantly in a carefully measured tone.

"I was just asking our mutual friend of ours was any good with that sharp sword of his," Hisoka explained in a very amused tone with sly eyes. "What do you think of his skill level?"

Tsuna's Intuition was blaring red all over the place. _**Abort, abort, abort! Dangerous**_! "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," Tsuna said evenly, staring into the magician's eyes and issuing a silent challenge.

The golden, pointed eyes of the other man narrowed in amusement and a bit of condescension. Tsuna's gut clenched and his Flames swirled slightly in offence. _**Thinks you're not a good enough Sky,** _ they seethed. _**Show him just how powerful you are.**_

With long practice, he pushed his Sky Instincts back and smiled tightly, turning to his Rain. "You have to stay with me," he said almost petulantly. "I haven't seen you in so long, and you help everyone keep calm."

"So you _are_ important. My compliments," Hisoka interjected, smirking at Takeshi and musing. _**On purpose**_ , Intuition pointed out. _Not helping_ , Tsuna pointed out. **_He's antagonizing_** , Sky Flames hissed _ **. Unreasonably interested in our Element. Can't be innocent. Plans to hurt Rain.**_

Tsuna couldn't help it, he let out a small growl. "Let's go, Takeshi," Tsuna signaled, managing to sound perfectly pleasant through gritted teeth by some feat of will.

"Takeshi," the magician purred from behind them. "Taaakeshi."

Tsuna's control abruptly broke. He slipped into Dangerous Protective Sky mode. Instead of being blinded by anger, Reborn had trained him so that he slipped into an analytic, precognitive battle mode, whether political, verbal, or physical. It helped that Tsuna's irritation didn't snap into anger all that often. And when it did, things got Intense.

When he snapped into _hatred_ , the world bowed before him.

Luckily, he wasn't quite to that point yet. Another push or two toward more of _his_ and he would be, but now he was just angry. Which wasn't all that trifling, but.

Tsuna whirled around, eyes glowing orange, and was prepared to punch the living daylights out of this Element poacher, Sky or not.

"Kufufu, Tsunayoshi," he was interrupted by Mukuro, who had the gall to reach out and grab his arm from the side, leaning on his trident. "Think about the consequences of your actions."

"I do. I was," Tsuna rolled his eyes. "You know me, Mukuro. I was."

"Precisely because I do, dear Sky," Mukuro retorted. "Often you don't think enough about your own health. Or others of your family, in this case."

Doubted by his own family, now? But Intuition was giving him another vibe. "I. _Am_." Tsuna repeated his stance. "What are you trying to say, _Mist_?"

Mukuro narrowed his eyes at the jab at his lesser status but rolled them a moment later. "Let me take care of this, is what I'm saying. He's usually not this aggressive," he said as an aside to the magician. "You must have done something truly horrendous. Then again, stepping on family will do that to people."

 _ **Not going to help**_ , Intuition whispered. _**But it might be very satisfying and entertaining**_.

Tsuna was taking deep breaths in his mind, trying to push away the instincts of his frantic, furiously churning Flames.

"Not very nice," the Mist continued. "Then again, what can you expect from someone uncultured and wearing homespun clothing. Honestly I'm not sure where you could even get that sort of fabric? Thus my assumption. Your designer really pulled off the head-turning, extremely revolting look. Give them, our mutual friend, a compliment from me." As Mukuro made to walk past, he stopped and whispered in Hisoka's ear, "And you should really find a more fashionable, practical weapon than _playing cards_. It's like you don't even _care_ about your reputation. Not like they're not indestructible or whatever, but you've got to blow through them so fast. Can you even win at cards without cheating? You don't seem the right type. Honestly this whole... look and acting part is not even edgy, just clashy and unbearable. _Strawberry_." Mukuro smirked, flipped his hair, and resumed his sashay away.

Hisoka blinked, in shock from such a petty, parallel speech, before he went into a corner and contemplated his life choices and character design.

(Hisoka doesn't care about most people's opinions, but surprisingly enough, the fashion and style buttons are a little tender.)

(Also, Mukuro finds it very satisfying to be the one calling someone else a fruit for once.)

-._.-

Omake Three:

"Hello," Mukuro greeted the Cloud leaning against the wall coolly, smirking and leaning in to blow into a certain skylark's face.

Kyoya tried to look unaffected, but he instinctively flinched away from the breath. Then he decided the pineapple was going to be insufferable about it anyway, so he fanned the polluted air and pushed away the Mist's face. The whole gesture reeked of "ha, I can touch you now," and Mukuro considered whether he'd regret following around Kyoya for a good portion of two years and being as annoying as possible, but he couldn't bring himself to. He had the memories to get him through whatever Kyoya's revenge would be. The only sad thing was that the Cloud was immune to blackmail, since everyone knew that Mukuro haunting Kyoya wasn't far-fetched and they'd seen every reaction so far.

Then Kyoya looked down and something caught his eye. "Hooker boots," he stated, staring.

Mukuro looked down as well and peered over his boots again. They had a truly extravagant amount of buckles, belts, and chains (both thin silver necklace and traditional jail chains) almost covering the entire surface. "Ah, yes," he preened. "One of my better ideas. They're truly beautiful, are they not?" Tilting them this way and that, the Mist prattled on about his wonderful new accessory. "They make a delightful, attention-grabbing jingle wherever I go, so that I have the proper amount of attention, and they're mid-thigh length, plus surprisingly comfortable and effective armor."

As soon as Mukuro finished his speech, Kyoya burst into dark little chuckles that sounded amused. Bloodily cruel, amused, mocking, and deriding. "Hardly subtle," Kyoya noted after his chuckling had subsided, unimpressed. Mukuro was also unimpressed. He'd put a lot of effort into choosing and perfecting the boots, not to mention learning to stroll in them just the right way!

"I'm not _subtle_ , darling," Mukuro refuted with a lazy smirk, recovering from the insulting laughter of the Cloud quickly and reaching down and clinking some chains together. "That's Chrome's thing. I'm hardly that type of Mist. I love flashy and dramatic, you know this."

Kyoya stared back with an expression that said "all too well." "Don't call me darling," he settled for saying.

"Of course, _darling_ ," the Mist purred, his smirk only growing at the hard slap across the face from a tonfa that earned him. "I live to serve." He pivoted on his heel and finger-waved back at the Cloud as he strode away, conjuring a few sparkles around him.

Kyoya just let out a few more chuckles and observed the rest of the exhausted but content and newly enthused pack. Deeming them safe, he slid his eyes shut to relish the moments of peace he had now.

-._.-

So I find myself burdened with many KHR/HxH crossover ideas and a very sparsely populated crossover category. I had so many ideas that I could fashion a HxH/KHR week! What do you think? If I posted the (pretty specific) prompts on ao3 or my Tumblr (under the same name as the ffnet username), would you be interested in following the week to see what content gets produced or even participating in it? Let me know!

Go check out my other stuff! Family, Love (and sometimes letting go) is a pet project of mine, based on Nana having a family she could rely on, and in turn being a much better mother and teaching Tsuna more about love and family. Unfortunately, it's been a flop, not gotten much attention. But the family feels are in that story are very similar to the ones here, and I explore Nana and Iemitsu's relationship and how it came to be, especially with a Nana with more sense about relationships and what she wants in a family. Sonder is like this, though a bit more tragic, and Gilded Sky is a K/KHR crossover based on the idea of someone else noticing Tsuna's potential and training him in a better environment. There are more stories coming.

There were a lot of amusing things this chapter, so let me know what you liked best, and especially if something made you laugh! Mukuro with hooker boots is an old headcanon of mine, and I planned to incorporate it into the story from early on. Unfortunately, when Mukuro was introduced in ch 3, Tsuna was more focused on his family coming back together and hadn't the mental space to notice the hooker boots. Sadly. He'll notice later.

Remember the review and writing offer!

And, guys. **Thank you so much!** Without you, I never would have continued this fic, published anything else, or known what a joy it is to be a writer. Your feedback means so much to me it's not even funny. And I almost cried seeing how many favorites and follows this story has gotten over time. Really truly, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Y'all are amazing.

~OperaEagle IcelynLacelett


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